She's a Killer
by feather flyer
Summary: "Max. I knew you would eventually find me.""Where is it?" She asks. "I don't know what you're talking about." A bubbling laugh escapes her throat."That's fine. I hear you have a son. Fang was it?""He doesn't know anything! Leave my son out of this." But the girl was already running at him, her blade held out to the side in both hands and driving it into his ribcage."We'll see." FAX
1. Chapter 1

**Sooooo, this is a new story! Yay! Hopefully I can keep up with it. I'm really excited about this and have little idea where it will go. Let us travel forth into the great unknown!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Maximum Ride characters**

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><p><em><span>Prolog: She's a Killer<span>_

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><p>She stands there looking down at the corps in front of her with a wild glint in her eyes. The girl with limp blond hair that falls to her lower back. The girl known as Killer Ride.<p>

Her hands hang limp by her side, blood dripping in a slow tickle off her finger tips and knife.

She brings her hand to her face and her tongue darts out, tasting the coppery blood of her newest victim. Standing in the dark alley, a smile that has long since passed crazy, spreads across the fifteen year-old's face.

The slight scrape of a boot in the alley makes her whip around. In the front of open space and the street stands a silhouette. There is static as it raises an arm to its mouth.

The girl slowly slips into the dark shadows wary. There is another scrape but on the other side of her. Another silhouette has appeared. Then more materialize, flooding into the backstreet with, what she can now see, guns trained on her head.

Then the voice rings out. The one that is always at the scenes of her prey. The one that she has never heard up close, for she has never been caught.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands on you head." The voice shrills out. She can tell that the voice is female.

With the flick of her wrist, the sharp object flies away from her and lands with a thump inside the dead man's chest.

There are shouts and screams telling her to get on her knees with hands on her head.

She slowly, as if to annoy them, gets on her knees and tangles her hands in her messy hair. They rush toward her and roughly jerk her hands into cuffs.

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><p>The girl stands before the judge, dirty blond hair covering a smirk that graces her face.<p>

It is there that she is convicted and deemed insane. To most people, she would seem to be and she possibly was. But she knew better. She has her reasons for doing all that she had done.

But to them, her brain is consumed in madness and insanity. So, when the judge convicted her to an asylum, her smirk grew to a grin and a laugh bubbles in her chest, then bursts from her mouth. This is because the one thing she loves most besides revenge, is freaking people out. And it works. The officers surrounding her, drag her out of the court room still laughing. Her crazed laughter turns real once she is out, because the looks she receives from people around her are terrified.

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><p><em>One Year Later<em>

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><p>The girl sits in an isolated white room in a straightjacket and blindfold. Three cameras are trained on the one girl. She sits in the same position as always, knees tucked to her chest and her body slumped forward. She has been patient, waiting, and it is time.<p>

So when she heard the rush of air from her door opening and the sound of footsteps, her head slowly lifts and a wicked smile spreads across her face.

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><p><strong>And that's the end. I have nothing else to say so... adios mis amigos!<strong>

**This is feather flyer so,**

**Fly Free**

**Until then...**

**R&R?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guy, what up? So, this is the next chapter, so sorry for the wait. Let me know what you think!**

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><p>The killer crouches low on the rooftop, staring down at the man in the brown overcoat. She watches with an eager smile playing on her lips and relaxed muscles. This would be her final kill for now and her arms still tingled from being pressed across her chest for a year.<p>

She resented cops and authority, not because they can bust her, but because they don't know what really goes on in the world but pretend they do. A scowl crosses her face as she pictures the guard that always kicks the helpless people, long given up, on the pure white tile.

She should have killed him then, when she escaped, but she doesn't enjoy killing. Not when she doesn't need to.

She'll be satisfied that he got fired for her escape.

It didn't take long for the knife in her palm to feel familiar again, the weight and shape of it. Over the years, it has become comforting almost. A steady constant hanging at her waist.

The man stops under her, waiting, in the darkness. The moon was waning so little light escapes onto the dark streets below.

She slowly stands, listening to her stiff muscles creek. With a step forward, she drops from the two-story roof and to the ground below. She lands soft and silent, obscured by shadows.

The only noise heard was the quiet thump of feet on gravel, but even that was muffled. Sensing her presence, the man grows stiff and turns. There, on the ground, a girl crouches with one hand extended out to keep her balance.

Shadows raise up around her, ominous and dark, but the girl strangely lacks one. Slowly, she stands and he can see her face reflected in the dim yellow street light.

Of course he knew it was her and a sigh escapes from his parted lips, long and weary, for he knew what happens next.

After all, he knew she was coming for him. Still, the knowledge did little to quench the slight fear that bubbles in his stomach now. He leans against the wall next to him.

"Max." His voice comes out steady, despite the turmoil inside. "You finally found me."

Her smile gleams blinding white in the dark, enjoying the slight fear in his eyes like all of her victims before him.

"Where is it?" She studies him steadily and knowing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." His voice comes out a little too hard and they both know it's a lie.

She pauses, looking for any cracks or chinks in his armor. Then she opens her mouth, speaking slowly, almost nonchalant. "You watch the news, right Jeb? You know it was me who killed the others. Do you know how I found you? Do you want to?" She asks tilting her head, no longer smiling.

Yes. Yes he knew all too well that she was the cause of his partners' death. In a way he had created this beast that stands before him, talking of death as if it were the weather forecast.

"_Betrayal_." She talks on when he doesn't respond. "Your own buddies betrayed you. One after another, they beg for their lives. 'I'm sorry!' they say. 'I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!' In return for their life, they give me information. It doesn't actually end that way now does it?"

"Why do you tell me this?" His voice is hard and guarded but a slight tremble makes itself known.

The killer tilts her head the other way, a glint in her eyes. She balances her knife casually on the edge of her thumb and flicks it with her pointer finger. It spins a complete circle before she taps it again.

"Because you wouldn't beg would you? No, you're to proud for that. But that's okay."

She takes a step forward and is in complete view of the street light.

"I heard you have a son. Fang was it? What a stupid name."

Jeb's face grows hard, no longer afraid for himself, but his family. "He doesn't know anything. Leave my son out of this!" The beginning of panic enters his voice.

But she is already running at him. She holds the knife out to her left in both hands.

When the knife sinks up into his ribs, he gasps. "No, you see, you were the one who brought him into it. Right in the middle." She runs her thumb under his chin, collecting the dribble of blood that ran from the corners of his mouth. "Any last words?" It comes out almost at a whisper.

He coughs and blood splatters her face. "Go to hell." He chokes out and the crazed grin returns to the killer's red stained lips. "I'll see you there."

Then she twists the knife and the man lets out a horrible gurgling scream into the hazy night almost like from a nightmare. She pushes his body away and he falls to the ground with a heavy thud.

She flicks the blood soaked knife and the crimson liquid splatters at her feet. Then she brings the freezing steel, as cold as her skin, to her wrist and wipes it on her sleeve.

There is an eery silence that follows as she looks down at the body not a foot away.

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><p><span>Fang's POV<span>

I stare down at the kitchen table, hands clasped in my lap as I listen to the reporter on TV.

"-Jeb Bachalder has gone missing as of two months ago. He was last see going into the abandond part of town, and when investigated, the authorities have found a large pool of dried blood. Forensics have confirmed that it was, in fact, Mr. Bachalder's. Police have still yet to find his body and have little hope of doing so. The crime is suspected to be from Killer Ride, named for his or her countless killings and ability to, apparently, vanish into the shadows.

The killer was arrested a year ago until he escaped the asylum he was being kept. According to police, he seems to not even exist. All evidance of the capture have disappeared and no one even seems to remember whether he was male or female.

Police advise that you lock your doors and stay inside after dark.

This is Martha Williams and-"

The screen goes black.

I sigh and stand up slowly, head hanging, hands fisted on the table. I grit my teeth and punch a wall with all of my strength, and a fist sized hole appears. "Damn it!" The word flies from my mouth along with a bit of spit, which I have to admit, was gross.

"Fang?" My head whips around to see my mom in the door way to the kitchen. She looks sickly and pale from grief, and I feel guilty. For loosing my temper and scaring her.

My hand falls to my side, my shoulders relax, and the scowl leaves my face.

"I'm going to school." I whisper, brushing past her.

Her fragile hand grazes my shoulder and I pause.

"Are you okay?" She says gently, motherly, and I know that if I turn around I would see her tear-stained cheek and sorrowful eyes. If I turn around I might start to cry

"Fine." I say shrugging her hand off as I walk to the door, backpack slung over my shoulder. I hesitate there. "Love you." Then I slip out, closing the door behind me.

_Damn him and his stupid job that probably got him killed. Damn him and him disappearing. Damn him for making my mother cry and leaving us._

_Damn him and his stupid killer._

I sigh as I sit down on the bus, next to a window. I lean my head against it and stare through the smudged glass. I watch the trees and people pass, glaring at one point until they blur into one big mass of color.

The thing that catches my attention is not the old rotting farm-house itself, but the girl. The girl in ripped jeans, t-shirt, and old baseball cap, hair tied into a high pony tail. She is nailing boards into gaps of the house and my eyes follow her until the image whips by a second later, blurred by trees once more.

I stay staring at that one spot until the bus rolls to a stop at the school.

As soon as I step off the last step, I am bombarded by a mass of sparkles and colors.

Another sigh escapes my parted lips but I can't help the slight curve that forms in the corner of my mouth.

I pat her head awkwardly and she pulls away only to look up at me with her big brown doe eyes. "Fang, I'm so sorry!" Tears spill over as she clutches onto the front of my shirt. "The police will find him, I'm sure! They'll get your dad back!" She starts sniffing and a huffy laugh escapes my throat.

"I'm fine Nudge. And I'm sure they will." I'm saying this more for her than me. I'm certain they won't find him. Not if Killer Ride is the one at fault. But Nudge doesn't need to hear me say this, so I keep my mouth shut. I'm usually really good at this. I had just seen her yesterday and dad has been gone for weeks, but with Nudge, It's like it had just happened.

"Dude." Iggy says, making his way over to us. "If you ever meet Killer Ride on the street, let him know that I could, like, make bombs for him and stuff." He has a smile across his pale face.

"You do know Killer Ride is a serial killer and most likely killed my dad right?" I ask, more amused than anything, because I know he doesn't actually mean it. "Besides, he only kills his victims using knives." I look away. "He'd be much more likely to recruit _me_."

I hear a gasp from Nudge and a laugh from Iggy.

"That's where I come in." A voice says coming up. "I would use my stink to knock em out. We all know Killer Ride doesn't like to make her victims suffer much."

See, this is why I love my friends so much. They don't give me that pitying look that I get from everyone else.

I turn around to see Iggy's younger brother, Gazzy. Even though he's only eleven, he's a year under us in school. He would be in an even higher grade if he didn't keep blowing up the science lab for fun. Him and Nudge, who is fourteen and in our year, are kind of geniuses at this school.

This is an everyday thing with us. People say we are going to be criminals when we grow up, but it's just talk with us. Well, maybe not Gazzy and Iggy with their bombs, or Nudge with her hacking skills... Wow, am I the only normal one in this group?

"So Fang, any news on your father?"

I shake my head in frustration. "They keep saying the same stuff over and over, but they aren't finding anything new. Why can't they find anything else?!"

A hand rests on my shoulder and they relax slightly. "Dude, chill it."

I take a deep breath and bow my head. "I'm going to the crime scene tonight. Check it out for myself."

Then I shrug off Iggy's hand and we walk to our classes, two minutes after the bell.

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><p>I stand in the dark street with rain pouring down around me, soaking me and plastering my cloths to my body. I had long since started shivering.<p>

_Tch. Damn rain._

I push my dripping hair out of my face and look around the sodden ground. I find where the blood stain was, now mostly washed away, and crouch down. I'm just about to reach out and touch it when lightning flashes followed by a giant crack of thunder. The sky splits in two, lighting up the entire street and for an instant, everything is visible before falling into an even darker silence.

The flash had surprised me so I am now on my butt, sitting in a large puddle. Not that I can get even more soaked.

When the next flash opens the sky a second time, the street is visible once more. I fall back again, but not from the lightning. There is a silhouette standing in front of me, not five feet away.

The figure crouches down in front of me and offers a shadowed hand. I take it feeling stupid, and pull myself to my feet. The hand is slim and small, making me think the owner is female. It is as cold as the rain running down my back.

Everything in my body is trying to warn me that this person is dangerous. Chills spread up and down my body, making me shake, and not from the cold.

I couldn't jerk my hand away fast enough.

The girl indicates to a building across the street and starts walking. Not seeing much choice, I follow her. When we get under the awning she pushes her hood back and damp blond hair spills over her shoulders, tucked under an old baseball cap. Behind her foggy eyes is a mix of coldness and amusement.

"So what are you doing out here? It's raining." I say.

She rolls her brown eyes. "Obviously." I glance at the rain. She's right of course. It is pretty obvious. "I'm investigating a murder. What are you doing out here? As you so kindly put it, It's raining."

I look at my feet. "Same."

"Really?" She raises an eyebrow. "Any luck?"

"No, I just got here when you showed up. What about you?"

She smirks and shrugs. "Tonight is my first night." She pauses. "But I might have something."

"And what might that be." I cross my cold arms across my chest, partly for some source of warmth in my numb body.

She points to something above my head and I look up. It's a camera. And it's pointing in the direction we were just at. "Wouldn't the police have already looked at that?"

"Look around you." She says spreading her arms out wide for emphasis. "It's an abandoned building dumb ass. The camera might not even be plugged in, but there's still a chance." She's right. Again. Wow, that's getting really annoying. "I wont even be able to access it. If you hadn't noticed, I don't exactly have access to police resources."

"I," I raise my finger. "could take care of that."

I pull out my phone, glad to actually be of some use, and press speed dial. She's not going to be very happy that I'm dragging her out here at this hour and my skin still itches from my danger instinct, but I have to find out what happened to my dad.

"Got it." I hear a click behind me and jump, for some reason thinking it was a gun. The blond headed girl had picked the lock to the building.

She kicks the door open and makes a sweeping motion with her arms and a bow. "Ladies first."

I scowl and hang up after talking to my friend. I stride through the door with my head lifted high.

She snickers behind me.

Immediately upon entering, I know the people here had left in a hurry. Papers where scattered across the floor and a few desks were tipped over. I see a rat scurry across the floor and disappear into a hole in the wall.

We wander around from room to room, all looking just as bad as the first, until we find the security room. When we walk through the squeaky door, Nudge is waiting inside, leaning back in a rolly chair.

"Jeez, what _took_ you so long? I've been waiting for like, five minutes. Oooo, who's the girl? Gasp! Is she your girlfriend? Do you have a secrete girlfriend Fang? Oh, you do don't you? ZOMG! I have to tell Iggy, he owes me ten bucks."

She pulls out her phone and is bringing it to her ear when the girl slips by me and plucks it out of her fingers, ending the call before the first ring.

"Hey, I was just about to-"

"I'm assuming you are emo boy's hacking friend, so if you could just, you know, hack."

She indicates to the dust covered computer and Nudge pouts. "Fine."

She closes her eyes and her hands hover over the key board. The girl walks back over to me and leans close. I notice then that her lips are stains a crimson color, like she had been sucking on something red. A clod tingle runs down my spine.

"What's she doing?" Danger screams inside of me and I jerk backwards. She gives me an odd look.

I nod in Nudge's direction, silently telling her to just watch.

My friend's eyes fly open and her fingers fly across the key board just as fast.

In under a minute, she sits back looking satisfied. "Okay, so what do you want to look at?"

Blonde steps forward and leans a hand on the back of the chair. "Security cameras around front." She clicks on some things and camera videos come up. "I need footage of two months age on August 24, from 11:00-2:00am."

"Could say please." Nudge grumbles as she follows the strange girl's orders.

"There!" I exclaim when I see my dad come on. Nudge rewinds a little, then presses play.

Thank god. I'm going to see who killed my dad... But I don't want to see my dad die...

There is no volume but I'm not complaining. He walks by the buildings in a brown overcoat and stops, looking around.

_He knows someone is coming. He's meeting him there_, I realize.

Suddenly there is a blurr dropping and the figure lands behind my dad. He was on the roof!

"Turn around, turn around." I quietly urge him. He doesn't seem surprised. He knows this person. He reaches his hand out and leans against the wall for support.

The figure stands slowly but you can't see the face. It's hard to tell if they are male or female. There is a glint in the shadow's hand and I know it's a knife.

The screen suddenly statics and blacks out.

We all stare intently for a second until it refocuses. When it does, both people are gone and all that's left is a pool of blood.

I stare with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. That is until the dangerous person next to me starts laughing. "That smart bastard!" She exclaims and I can't help but think she might be as loony as my father's killer.

"Look." She reaches forward and rewinds until the killer just drops. My father leans against the wall and she pauses it, pointing to his hand. "There." And I see it.

It's a piece of paper in his hand, half way slipped into the crack of a loose brick.

"It's a note. I need to see it." Blonde grabs my hand before I can run out the door. It is still ice cold like it wont ever warm up.

"Think first. It's pouring buckets out there. As soon as it touches the rain, it will be unreadable. We can come back tomarrow to look at it." She lets go of my hand and puts a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth.

_Where did she get a cookie from?!_

She stands up and starts walking to the door. The girl-

"Ugh! What's your name? I'm tired of calling you 'the girl' and 'blonde' in my head!"

She hesitates a step. "Max." She turns her head and smiles like she's about to tell the world's funniest joke. "Maximum Ride." Then she turns and starts walking but, again, pauses at the door.

"Oh, and Fang, if you want to find your dad's probable murderer, I'm your new best friend." Then she disappears.

"...When did she get a cookie?" Nudge asks.

"_That's_ what is bothering you?!"

"Jeesh. No need to get so worked up." She mumbles.

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><p><strong>Kay, so from now on it will mainly be from Fang's POV except maybe a few insight with Max.<strong>

**Fly Free y'all**


	3. Chapter 3

**Woooo! Today was my last day of school, so I'm free for the summer! Yay! Here is the next update, sorry that it's 1,000 fewer words. Thank for all the awesome reviews, I'm glad you guys like it.**

**For those whom are reading my other stories, they are being put on hold until I finish this one. Thank for reading and I promise I will finish them eventually.**

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><p>I stumble off the bus with my eyes drooping from lack of sleep. I had gotten home late and then stayed up longer, thinking of the events that had just happened. When I heard the rain slow to small pitter patter, then just the trickle of flooded water down the gutter, I was tempted to go back, despite the early hours of the morning.<p>

My body wouldn't let me get up anyway, it was so exhausted. I finally drifted off to sleep at about 4:00am only the be rudely jerked awake from my alarm clock three hours later. It's I miracle I could force myself from the warmth of my comforter in the first place.

I run my hand through my damp hair, from a shower in attempt to wake myself up. It got my blood flowing, but had no effect on my groggy mind.

"Hey Fang." I groan in response to Iggy's happy greeting.

He snickers.

"Hey Fang. Hi Iggy." Nudge yawns walking up. You know she's tired when that's all you get for a greeting. Iggy looks back and forth between us, trying to figure something out.

"Oh and Fang, after you left last night, I was snooping around the computer some more and I found that the part with the static wasn't a coincidence. Something interfered with it but no one came near it. I think it has to do do with our killer. It's like the camera _reacted_ to his presence." Nudge yawns again, the short rant draining her.

I nod am about to say thanks when-

"Oh, wow. So _this_ is a school." A voice behind me says. It's like lightning hitting my spin as I stiffen.

"Oh, hell."

"Close but not quit. It's Max actually."

Iggy perks up. "Who's she?"

An arm is casually slung over my shoulder and I grimace. She doesn't seem the least bit tired. She must be used to not getting many hours of sleep. "I'm Fang's new best friend."

"Fangy-poo, you've been cheating on me? And with a girl too!" Iggy feints hurt. Then he throws himself at my feet and grips the front of my shirt. "Tell me it's not true!" He wails, earning us odd looks.

I slap his hands away and kick him in the stomach. "Stop that. See, this is why people think you're gay. If I didn't know how much of a pervert you are, I would too."

I am expecting a dramatic speech of how every man is a pervert on the inside and how he doesn't like to hide his inner self. I do get a speech, but not about being a pervert.

"You know, gay used to mean happy so yes. I am gay. I am a very gay man."

"Dude, did you just say you were gay?" Gazzy asks walking up with a horrified face. "Is that why you hang out with me?" To say he looked freaked out is an understatement.

I smile as I hear Nudge giggle and Max snort.

"Gay means happy!" Iggy defends, Nudge slouched against him laughing. She seems pretty awake now. "Besides, if I were to be gay, I wouldn't be gay with you. Your way to young." He says it like _that's_ the weird part. "If it was anyone it would be Fang."

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><p>"Who are you?" My teacher asks suspiciously when Max walks into the classroom behind me.<p>

"Max. Who are _you_?"She asks defensively.

He crosses his arms. "I'm the teacher and what I mean is, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the new student." She lifts her head.

His face scrunches up. "I don't have a new student in this class." He shuffles through some papers on his desk. "Ah, yes, Miss. Maximum Ride. So sorry for the confusion. Take a seat where you wish."

Slowly, students file into the room, shooting curious glances at the unfamiliar face.

She plops into the stool at my table and crosses her feet to sit indian style. The hair on the back of my neck prickles and I study her from the corner of my eye. Iggy sits one table ahead of us with a boy who is picking at something orange on his shoe.

"Class, we have a new student today. Max please come to the front of the room." What's our teacher's name again? Huh, I can't remember and it's been a month since school started.

Max hops up from her chair and moves to the front of the room without making a sound.

The way she leans against the board with her arms crossed and the lazy smile playing across her red lips would make you think that she is completely at ease. But I can see the slight tense of her muscles and her toes point toward the door, indicating she is ready to move into action or blot if needed. From what, I don't know.

The hard clouded look in her eyes that I had thought was caused by the grog of last night, still shines in her brown pools.

They make me weary. They are the eyes of someone who has gone through a lot. They remind me of the look solders have coming back home from a war. Ready for anything, half still in the battle field, not completely back home. As I study her, I realize, Maybe everyday is a battle field and your life is the war.

Max had lost someone; gone through her first big battle when she was young, not ever having the bliss of ignorance. It makes me want to find out what happened in her past and why she is now looking for my fathers killer. Why does she do what she does today?

What does it have to do with this girl's past?

I'm broken from my daze by my nameless teacher.

"Why don't you tell the class a little about yourself." He doesn't seem very interested, frankly, a little board.

Max blinks. "Okay well, I like anime, cookies kool-aid-" so that's what's staining her lips- "and I'm not a people person. Can I go now?"

"Max..." He seems a little hesitant. "Where are your shoes?" I look down at her feet along with the rest of the class. Her jeans are bunched up around her, indeed, bare feet.

"I don't need them." She replies easily.

"Max, you can't come to school without shoes." He deadpans.

"Why?" She seems sincerely confused.

"Because you just can't. It's against the rules."

"No it's not. I read the rule book last night and it doesn't say anything about no shoes."

Mr. Teacher rummages through a drawer and pulls out a thick book and starts flipping through it.

"Ah, right here. 'A student can not wear shirts without sleeves and pants must not be more that four inches above the knee. Opened toed shoes are prohibited and that student will be sent home.'' He gives a pointed look at Max.

"Exactly. 'Open towed.' I have no shoes, therefore, not open toed." She crosses her arms annoyed.

"Even if it isn't in the rules, you should automatically know to wear shoes when you go out in public. What did your parents say when they saw you leave the house with nothing on your feet?" He says, sounding like he's about ready to start ripping his hair out.

"Nothing. They're dead." Then she walks back to her seat beside me and this time, I hear the quiet tap of bare feet on tile.

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><p>After making it through the first three periods, Max follows me into the lunch room. Somehow, she ended up having all the same classes as me. Which is kind of annoying. When I told her this, she just shrugged.<p>

When we get to the small circular table, Max glances around. After seeing no other chairs, she decides to claim her spot on Iggy's lap.

He blinks, not knowing how to respond to this, but Max is just fine, eating her cookies that appear out of nowhere. Maybe they are in her pocket or something.

He pokes her in the ribs and she arches away from his hand, batting it away.

He smiles and pokes her again. "Stop it." She snaps and takes another bite out of her sweets. He pokes her at the same time both sides and she jumps up, frustrated.

She walks behind his chair and easily lifts it by the back, dumping the boy onto the floor.

Then she walks back around front and takes his seat.

"Hey!"

"Is for horses." She replies dryly.

He smiles all sweet and sits down in her lap with a satisfied grin, but a second later, he jumps up holding his butt.

"Owww! What was that?!"

Max holds up a needle with a smirk. "Where did you get that from?"

She shrugs and takes a sip from her flask. Her lips come away a darker red than before and shiver runs down my spine.

Everything inside me is telling me not to trust this girl. Yet here she is, sitting at my table, joking with my friends. Why is she here? What's her purpose?

"So Max, who do you live with if both of your parents are dead?" The words just slip out of my mouth, dry and humorless. I watch as conversation ceases at our table and Iggy freezes, in the middle of pulling up another chair from another table.

A gasp comes from Nudge. "Fang!" Her voice is disbelieving. "That's rude, what's gotten into you?!"

Even I'm surprised with myself and I know I should take it back, quickly. "It must be hard right? Do you miss them?" I continue, not sure why, speaking without thinking.

Max clears her throat and set her flask down, looking me straight in the eye. There is a curiosity there. "Ah, no. Not really. They died when I was young. I live with my brother, but I do most of the chores."

I nod and my voice goes a little softer. "What happened to them?"

She clears her throat again and shakes her head, disbelieving. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you that well. I'm not just going to pour out my life story to a guy I met just last night."

"Well, why not? We're supposed to be best friend right? I mean, you said so yourself." I cock my head to the side.

"Fang." Iggy's voice is the most serious I've ever heard it. "Stop." I glance around and I see every one looking at me like they no longer knew me.

"Seriously." Gazzy says.

There is silence, then I look down at my hand. "You're right. I'm being rude." I meet Max's calculating gaze. "I'm sorry."

She hesitates, then nods and picks up her flask again. "Yeah, no, it's okay." She coffs into her arm for the silence that follows. She turns to Iggy and Gazzy. "So, ah, tell me about these pranks that you guys have done."

He slowly peels his stare from me and to Max. "Yeah, so..." and slowly conversation fills up the awkward silence.

I keep my gaze, unwavering from Max, and every now and then, her eyes meet mine before flicking away.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, you guys are great. Don't forget to leave a review, I hope you liked it. If not... Leave a review.<strong>

**-Fly Free**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews! And to sadiria13sturdevant, sorry but it was Kool-aid. Sadly Max isn't a vampire though it would be a weird twist. Max just has an obsession with cherry Kool-aid. Sorry if I made you think otherwise**

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><p>"So why didn't you want anyone else to come?" Max asks as we walk down the deserted street. The four o'clock sun just touches the edge of a building and splashes the sky with an orange glow.<p>

"They don't need to be dragged into my obsessed search. Let them keep just a little normalcy." I say, not glancing back. She is two paces back, easily keeping up with my stride with hands tucked luxuriously in her pockets. I can hardly hear the sound of her foot falls, though mine echo loudly around the empty buildings.

She is silent for a moment. "What's it like to have friends? A normal life?"

This time I stop and turn to her. We are a block away from the last place my father was seen. She looks at me through her bangs and they are curious, wanting to know.

"What does it mean to be a friend?" She asks. She doesn't sound pitiful like the question might seem.

I turn on my heel and continue in my previous direction. "Being a friend means to be loyal to that person. You would give your life to them if it means saving them. You would stick with them through tough times and be there even if they don't ask you to. Having a friend is awesome."

She's silent again and stays that way until we come to my father's murder scene. I walk around the discolored concrete, leaving a foot of space between me and it.

I run my hand along a wall until I come to a loose brick. I fumble around the edges but my fingers are too big to slip into the tinny crack.

Icy skin touches my hand and slim fingers easily slide a folded paper out of the small opening. Max holds it up for me, eyebrows raised.

I grab it from her and unfold it quickly. It's soggy around the edges and the writing is smudged the tiniest bit. I swallow hard as I read my father's scratchy hand writing again and again, over and over. It's tugged from my hands as Max reads it over as well.

**Don't go looking. It will only get you killed.**

**Don't forget the flowers for my grave. :3**

**Love,**

**Dad**

"Maybe you should listen to him." Max suggests handing it to me.

I wipe my face of all emotion and shake my head. "Not a chance."

She smiles. "Good." She says. "So, where to detective?"

I look around, searching for something, anything. "...The roof."

She slaps me on the back as she walks past. "You're learning. Good job." She picks the lock in under thirty seconds and she has to slam into the rusted door twice to get it to open.

She closes the door behind us with a screech of protest and we are enclosed in darkness. I reach out my arms, fumbling for something and I touch a wall. I slide my hand along it until I feel a switch.

It doesn't work.

I hear a scraping sound, and then a dim light filters into the large space. Max is across the room standing beside a window, blinds drawn. I hadn't even heard her move and it seems impossible to not kick something on the cluttered floor.

"Well?" She looks at me. "Go on." She nods to a hall way, that I find out leads to a door with a stair case. I assume it leads to the roof so I continue forward, only hesitating a moment.

I slam the door with my shoulder expecting resistance, but it gives easily. It flies open and I stumble forward fro my momentum into the open space.

The wind is loud, howling in my ears, swirling around and ripping at my cloths.

I catch the door as it starts to close but Max is already through, so I release it. I walk forward letting my feet slide over the loose rocks, until I reach the edge of the two-story roof.

Max follows silently behind me. I crouch down and the wind becomes less problematic, no longer pushing at my back to where I think I might tumble over into open space.

"We wont be able to get anything up here." I have to raise my voice to be heard over the wind. "The wind and rain would have just blown away any evidence."

Max nods and bends here knees, crouching beside me. Her voice is audible as she talks normally. "So what do we know about our potential killer?"

"Well, we know that he-"

"She." She interrupts.

"What?"

"Well, judging by the killer's movements, he is a her. There is no way a boy can be that agile, let alone _silent_." She pauses and glances over at me. Okay, maybe you can."

I smirk and am about to say something real smart ass like, 'duh', when she continues. "You _are_ pretty feminine."

"Anyway," I say, deciding to ignore her little statement. "_she_ has some sort of grudge against her victims. They did something to her, but she's hesitant."

"Hesitant?"

"No, not hesitant... My guess is that she feels kind of guilty. Maybe a deep part of her that she doesn't even know exists."

"Why do you think she feels guilty?" She is truly curious as to why I came to this conclusion.

"The way a killer kills her victims can tell you a lot about somebody. She kills them quickly, so they don't suffer much. I don't think she likes to hurt people, but feels the need to. I think, in her mind, what she is doing is justice. She's definitely not your normal serial killer."

"Is an killer _normal_?"

"You know what I mean."

"Do you think she can get caught? She's a ghost. She doesn't exist in any computers and doesn't make mistakes."

"If this is Killer Ride, the police will never catch her."

"They caught her before." She points out.

I think for a moment. "He knew. The business man knew. She sent him a letter too. He called the cops before he left, thinking the could catch her. They did, but not before he lost his life."

"Letter? Why would she send a letter?" I meet her eyes and I see some of the cloudiness in them had subsided.

"Because the police would have searched his calls, and her prints aren't in the system. Why not send a letter?"

She ponders this for a moment, then nods. "So, if she sent your father a letter..."

"He might still have it. I guess we know where to look next." She nods and we sit in silence, staring at the street for a while before my skin starts to prickle from the cold.

Being so close to Max offers no warmth. She was as cold as the wind itself. She didn't seem cold though...

I stand up and Max looks at me, alarmed.

"I don't think we're going to get anything up here. Let's go back."

She stands and follows dutifully after me.

* * *

><p>"Damn it!" I yell, kicking the door after trying to yank it open. "It's locked and no one knows we're up here. How are we supposed to get down?"<p>

Max grips the hem of my shirt and pulls me to the side of the roof's edge.

"Same way our killer did. We jump."

"What? Your crazy!"

She grins at me and I can't help but wonder if she actually is a little loony in the head.

"That's not the first time I've been told that. Now jump."

"No."

She takes a step closer and the temperature drops ten degrees. My cloths whip around me and it feels like the wind will carry me away with it.

"As I always say, when I doubt, jump." And she pushes me off the roof. I am suspended in air for only a moment before my legs buckle into something squishy and smelly.

A second later, Max lands beside me, much more graceful.

"How'd you know this dumpster was here?" I asked confused.

"She frowns down distastefully at it and starts swinging her leg over the side. "I didn't."

"So, you _were_ trying to kill me?!"

She ignores me and looks down at her shoes. "Man, I just got these."

"You belong in an asylum."

She looks up at me then, and smiles again. "Been told that too. Besides, you wouldn't have died. Maybe a broken bone or two, but wouldn't have died... Probably."

That didn't help me feel any better.

She offers me a hand but I slap it away, my pride damaged the slightest bit today. I pull a brow banana peel off my shoulder and sniff. I end up gagging and trying to cover my mouth, but only more stink invades my nose.

"I can't go home looking, _and smelling_, like this. My mom will start asking questions."

Max looks me over, thinking. She seems to not have a single speck of dirt on her. If my nose isn't so assaulted, I'm sure she would still smell like cookies and something cherry.

"You can come to my house, wash up. You can use some of my brother's cloths." After a slight hesitation, another whiff from my own arm, I nod.

"That'd be great. Thanks." I breath.

We start walking, me following, through the silent streets. My foot steps echo around the buildings until it becomes a consistent buzz in my ears.

I look at the back of Max's head, her old cap, Her navy blue hoodie. If I concentrate, I can hear the, slight scrape off her foot on the sidewalk. Looking at her whole form, she looks almost lonely next to the abandoned buildings.

_"What's it like to have friends? A normal life?" _Her voice echoes in my head, as loud as my foot falls.

"I'm sorry." I say.

She looks over her shoulder at me, curious. "For what?"

I swallow something thick in my throat. "For earlier at school. I don't know why I was acting that way."

She shrugs and turns away, not missing a step. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

We fall into silence again and I regret my earlier words even more.

* * *

><p>I start to recognize our surroundings as the path the bus takes to school. The trees and foliage become thicker until we emerge to a small rotting farm house, newly nailed boards were where the gaping holes used to be.<p>

"Welcome to my humble home." Max says opening the door for me.

It doesn't look anything like the outside. The inside has new, clean plywood on the walls, there is a couch against the back way of the living room, with a coffee table in front of it.

Papers are spread out across it, and the floor around it. News paper clippings and side notes.

I follow Max into her kitchen and she opens the fridge. She takes out a pitcher and two glasses, pours a red liquid into each and hands me one. She goes through a covered and pulls out a package of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies.

I take a sip of the drink and find it, predictably, cherry Kool-aid.

She grabs a cookie, stuffs it in her mouth, then boosts her self up onto the counter.

"Shower is down that hallway last door on the left. Take your time. I'll bring some cloths in for you." Max points down a dark hallway and I nod.

"Thanks." I say, relieved to finally get out of my reeking cloths.

It's not a bad bathroom, though mine is better.

* * *

><p>I walk out of the bathroom, relieved to not have a constant rotting smell in my nose, and find Max sitting on the couch.<p>

"Your brother wont mind that I'm here?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"Ari has been real sick for the past few years. He always stays in his bed, and I have to cheek on him often. You know, make sure he's not dead."

"Shouldn't he be in the hospital?"

She doesn't look up from her papers. "Nothing they can do. That's why I do all the chores and stuff, but I don't mind. He took care of me for the longest time, so it's my turn to take care of him."

She looks up at me then, a determined look with an odd fire behind it. "He _will_ get better."

After an awkward silence the light fades from her eyes and she looks back down at her papers.

I clear my throat. "So what are you working on?" I sit down next to her and freeze.

The news papers date back from now, to three years ago, all on Killer Ride and her murders. I swallow and reach forward, lightly touching a clipping dated to August 13, the day they found my father's blood stain.

"I'm going to take a shower. Do what you want." Max says getting up, and walking down the hall I had just come from.

Eventually through my reading my vision starts to fade in and out until I find my eyes drooping from exhaustion.

I fall asleep to Max brushing back some of my hair that falls into my face.

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><p><strong>So thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.<strong>

**-Fly Free**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello my friends! So here's the deal: I'm going to Texas some time this week and I don't get internet at the house so I don't know when I'll update next. I should still have normal updates but who knows.**

**Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

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><p>My eyes slowly flicker open to an unfamiliar room. When I sit up, I find myself on a couch and a blanket falls from my shoulders. Max must have draped it over me last night.<p>

I let myself a moment of humanity and yawn. I slowly stand and stretch my back, listening to it crack from stiffness. Word of the wise: sleeping on an old couch only good for back problems.

I walk around the coffee table and step off the rug to the tile. The cold ground sends shivers up my legs and to my spine.

I stop at the kitchen and glance down the hall before taking a cookie and shoving it in my mouth. Then I make my way down the hall and open the first door I come to.

It's Max's room. The bed is stripped of covers but in the corner between a bookshelf and night stand, comforters spill out into the open. I walk closer and see Max bunched up in a ball, cocooned in blankets like a small child. He dangerous aura seems to have dissipated in her innocence of sleep, yet there is a slight frown present on her lip.

Her hand twitches like it's looking for something. I smirk and step forward to wake her for school.

As soon as my hand grazes her shoulder, something jerks out of the nest of covers and nails me under the chin. I blink and I'm laying on my back in a girls bedroom with said girl straddling my waist.

It's a guy's dream come true right? Maybe if that girl didn't have a sharp knife pressed to the throat of that guy. Other than that? Dream. Come. True. Not the sarcasm.

I swallow and I feel something warm trickle down the side of neck. My heart is beating so hard that I'm afraid Max can hear it.

"Easy, it's just me." A fog seems to clear from her eyes and the cold steel clatters to the floor by my head, nearly taking off part of my ear.

She lets out a long breath and rest her forehead on my chest for a moment. She only allows her self that vulnerability for a second before she is traveling across the room, her fallen weapon in hand.

"What are you doin in my room watchin me as I sleep? You some kind of pervert?" She asks.

"I came to wake you for school." I say, not getting up just yet.

"You should know not to wake someone when they're in a nightmare. I could have killed you."

"Not many people sleep with a knife." I counter.

"It was on my bed side table." She nods at it and I see another knife attached to a belt laying across it. I feel kind of stupid for not seeing it before, and curse myself for being distracted by Max so easily.

Not knowing anything to say in return, I shrug. Max rolls her eyes and stretches, seeming completely unfazed. I wouldn't even know she was having a nightmare just a second ago if I didn't see the pulse in her neck moving so fast. I wonder what it was about...

I've been staring to long, I realize. Then again, she's been staring back. She raises an eyebrow.

"Well, are you going to get out, or were you planing and watching me get dressed."

"Well, if you're offering..." I trail off and a pillow comes flying at my head. I laugh as I duck and it sails over my head. "Okay, okay."

I walk out of the room and the door slams behind me, but I can swear I saw a small smile on Max's lips.

"I'll catch up with you at school." I call through the door. "I have to stop by my house for some stuff."

I hear a muffled response from the other side and I assume it's an okay.

I'm walking past my makeshift bed when I stop. I reach down and pick up a folded paper off the carpeted ground. I frown. It was my dad's letter, but I don't remember taking it out last night... I shove it in my pocket and push out the front door into the moist morning air.

* * *

><p>I close the door to my house slowly and wince as it makes a small click.<p>

I pray to all of the gods I know about that my mom is still asleep.

"Fang?" The gods hate me.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, thank God." Yet, I'm the one cursing his name... Huh.

My mother rushes forward and envelopes me in a hug. I find myself quickly relaxing into her arms despite my mental walls.

"I thought you were gone. When, you didn't come home yesterday, I thought they got you too." I shake my head and rest my cheek on her hair. My hand strokes up and down her back in soothing motions.

"I stayed at Iggy's, I just had to get out of the house." I quickly tell the first lie that comes to my head. At least it's one she would believe. "I'm sorry. I should have called."

"Damn right you should have called!" She pushes away angrily. I smile at her choice of words, and how she always scolds me for cursing.

_"Just because I do it, doesn't give you the right to do it too."_ She would always say whenever I bring it up. She would smile and wink behind my dad's back.

She pulls me into another hug. After a few moments, and I start to feel a little awkward, I push her away lightly.

"Mom, you're going to make me late for school." I mutter.

"Fine, but next time you stay out late, _call_." She whips me with the dish towel she was holding.

I do a two finger salute and get my backpack from the bottom of the stairs.

I step out the door after planting a kiss on my mom's cheek and turn my back on the street, to shut it.

"Awe, what a touching scene." Lightning shoots through my spine, causing all of my hair to stand on end. I play it cool and turn to my creepy new friend.

"What, are you doing here Max?" I sigh.

"I told you to wait for me and that I was coming with you, but when I walked out of my room, you were nowhere to be seen." She turns her back to me and starts walking in the direction of the school. "It's like you're _trying_ to get rid of me."

I can hear the humor and sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm sorry that I can't exactly hear through doors. And I've been trying to get rid of you since the first time we meet. It's like you're one of those headaches that just keep coming back no matter how much aspirin you take."

"Hmm, cute." She says.

"Only for you." And we end up laughing as we get to the bus stop.

"You coming?" I ask when I notice she's not following me up the steps of the school bus.

She looks at it wearily and takes a step back. "You know what, I think I'll walk. I'll see you at school."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She nods, and the doors shut and the bus pulls away from the curb, quickly leaving Max behind. When she's out of sight, I make my way to my seat and slump into it.

My back cracks and I groan. "That damn couch."

* * *

><p>After I get to school, I make my way to where my friends and I always meet up before class.<p>

Max is standing next to Iggy and Gazzy, deep in conversation with Nudge. I don't even blink or stop to wonder how she could have gotten here before me.

"Hey Ig, if my mom asks, I spent the night at your house last night kay?"

He nods without hesitation. "Only if you buy me lunch."

"Done."

"When ever you guys are done planning your date, I would like to get to class." I turn and see Max half way up the school's steps with Nudge giggling as she follows. Gazzy rolls his eyes and shoves Iggy towards the front doors.

I sigh and follow as well. When we get to the class room, Max stops by the door to pull off her shoes, then makes her way to our table. I have a feeling that with Max in my life, I'm going to have more headaches and sighs than all the people in the nursing home combined.

I sigh.

* * *

><p>"Please?"<p>

"No."

"Please?"

"_No._"

"Please?"

"No matter how many times you ask, my answer will still be _no_."

"...Please?"

I sigh.

"So is that a yes?"

"No!" I rub my temple and take my seat in the lunch room.

"What's she goin on about?" Gazzy asks between a mouth full of burger. Nudge wrinkles her nose at him in distaste.

"She wants me to go to the lake with her."

"Yeah, you all can come. It will be fun." She says brightly, looking to everyone.

"Yeah, it's all fun and games up until you decide to push me off a cliff."

"I wouldn't have to push you if just jumped when I told you."

I scowl and cross my arms. Max humphs and turns her back to me in her seat.

I see Nudge wiggling in her chair with a wide smile and my heart sinks a little. Uh oh. She squeals.

"Oh my gosh, I so ship it. You two are now my OTP, better than Maka and Soul even!" She does an excited dance while Max sits up in her seat to gape at Nudge.

I mentally laugh. Nudge is in for it now, calling us a couple.

"You watch anime?" If I were in one of Nudge's animes I would have done what they call a sweat drop. I had learned some of the terms by listening to Nudge's rants about some ninja kid trying to earn a head band or some demon butler who has to save some rich brat every episode. Instead I mentally face palm. Of course it's about _anime. _Iggy groans and I silently agree.

So Nudge and Max go into a deep conversation about some kid who eats souls and turns into a death scythe.

In the end, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy and, of course, Max, decide to gang up on me until I agree to come to the lake with them. Awesome.

And some how, without my consent I might add, it was decided that everyone was coming to my house before we go swimming. Also awesome.

_Yay_, I think bitterly.

* * *

><p>"Hey mom." I say not to nicely as I stalk past her and into the kitchen. Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy and Max follow though the door smiling. I yank open the fridge and stare blankly into it.<p>

Then I close it, frustrated, and walk glumly up the stairs.

"I'm going to go change."

When I get into my room I empty my pockets. My fingers brush against something soft. My father's note.

I pull it out and read it over again.

_Don't forget the flowers for my grave. :3_

That line sticks in my head. I set the paper down on my dresser. Maybe because he's acting like it's some sort of joke.

I reach into a drawer and pull out black swim trunks. I tug them on after stripping and pull a t-shirt over my head. I jog down the steps while running a hand though my hair.

I stop in the doorway to the kitchen. My friends are gathered around the island and Max is stuffing her face with my mom's home-made cookies. Not that surprising.

She looks up, noticing me first, with wide eyes and crumbs dusting her cheeks. She grins and a few bits of cookie falls from her mouth. She looks happier than I had ever seen, though that doesn't say much.

The corner of my lip tugs up. "Your mom's cookies are amazing Fang." She says, shoving three more into her mouth. She makes a omm sound as she munches happily.

I roll my eyes and turn to Iggy. "Are we going or what? Not that I'm complaining if we _don't_ go." I reason.

"No, we're going." He says. "Come on guys."

They start to follow behind him except Max, who grabs five more cookies before jogging to catch up. She grabs my wrist when she pasts me and waves over her shoulder at my mom.

"Bye, Mrs. Martinez. Thanks for the cookies!"

My mom smiles and waves back, her eyes actually lighting up.

"Sweet girl." I hear mom mutter to her self while she turns to the dishes. I grin as I'm pulled out the door. Oh how very _wrong_ you are mother.

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><p><strong>I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.<strong>

**Thanks guy.**

**-Fly Free**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, so, so, sorry for not updating in long time! *crouches down in the fatal position* Please don't hit me!**

**So here it is, I hope my writing has at least gotten _better_ in my absence.**

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><p>It turned out just how I thought it would turn out. Me being me of course, I still just <em>had<em> to go along with it.

"Jump."

"_No_." I say for the millionth time.

She gives a frustrated sigh. "Gazzy, get your baby sister over here to jump off this damn cliff so Fangy Boy here can see how much of a wimp he is."

"You are not sending my six year old sister off of a thirty foot cliff." He argues.

"Oh, come on, I've jumped off higher than this before."

"Yeah." I say dryly. "That's because you're a complete psychopath." I reason.

She just rolls her eyes.

"Don't make me shove you off." She threatens with a teasing smirk.

"You wouldn't." I say because not even this strange girl could actually be stupid enough to do that. The grin that she gives me in return suddenly sends me scrambling to rethink my previous conclusion.

"One thing you should know about me is, if you say that I won't do something, it makes me want to do it that much more."

When I swallow, my throat makes that loud gulping sound.

I don't beg to the gods because as we previously concluded, they hate me. Instead I clench my eyes shut as the madwoman drags me to the edge and sends me spiraling to the immobilizing water below.

The wind pulls at my hair and skin in resistance, a caressing feel, and my stomach plummets father than the length that which I fall.

The water hits me hard as it swallows me beneath its surface. The water is like what I would expect November water to feel like, cold and mind numbing. As my decent slows I kick out and force my limbs to bring me back to the surface.

The cliff face looks a lot smaller from my position below it but that doesn't say much. The rocky wall still towers above me.

I hear a whooping coming from above me, from multiple voices. Then another body is flinging it's self from the overhang, only with out hesitation, and there is no doubt in my mind about who the shape belongs to.

Soon she's plunging into the surf a few feet away and reappearing seconds later with an exhilarated laugh.

Like always, she seems to be unaffected by the cold while I am struggling to tread water with numbing limbs.

Then another body is leaping off the crag, followed by another before the first even hits the water. Max swims, grinning, over to me as both Iggy and Gazzy burst from the lapping marine, giggling and laughing.

They swim over to us huffing in elation. Then we all turn to the waiting figure above, hesitant and unwilling.

"Come on Nudge!" Iggy calls. "We all did it, now it's your turn."

"I am not jumping off this cliff, you hear me? No way on god's green earth are you going to get _my_ feet to move over _that_ water. Nu-uh, no way, no how-"

"I'll blow up your laptop if you don't!" Gazzy cackles wildly as an uncharacteristic silence fills the echoing walls of the small cove we are in.

Then, Nudge flings herself off the rock face, screaming and flailing all the way to the water. She emerges moments later, gasping and sputtering, glaring at the three crazy crowing people around me.

And one last body falls. Little Angel, tiny, six-year old Angel, comes spiraling to the murky surface just a few feet away. I immediately swim over and hover worriedly as she comes up giggling like a... giggling six-year old.

Max grins at me cockily at getting everyone to jump. She just has that irritating smile that both makes me want to return it, and crawl under my bed to hide.

She breaks eye contact when a spray off water splashes her in the face and she goes plunging under the surf for payback on who ever dared get her wet..er.

I sigh in defeat and watch as my friends have more fun than they had ever had in their lives. It kind of amazes me on how this new, strange girl just shows up out of nowhere and she is instantly part of this group of misfit friends. How is it that this one girl has only been here two days and she already has the entire flock acting as if she has always been one of us?

It makes a ghost of a shiver run down my neck, one that I don't know if it is good, or bad. I'm thinking both.

After about an hour of splashing around, Angel declares that she's tired so we all swim to the easiest way out of the lake and climb out.

I collapse on the dead grass and my breath comes out in a puff of fog. I glance curiously at Max and of course, her breath is still invisible.

_Maybe she's a vampire._ I muse in hilarity. _But she doesn't sparkle... Oh god, stupid twilight series. Wait, would that make me Bella?_

I mentally groan and face palm. Where did that even come from?

A towel lands on my face and I glower at the girl who dropped it on me before running over my freezing hair.

"Thanks." I mutter.

She grins, eyes clearer than I've ever seen them, and bends down to help little Angel dry off. I see a softness in her face, not at all like the threatening feeling I often feel around her.

"You're staring." Nudge whispers in my ear and I scowl at her.

"Am not." I scoff.

"Yes you are." She smirks. "You're looking at her in this kind of awe. It's really cute."

"I am not." My scowl deepens.

She hums in response and straightens up. "Sure; what ever you say."

I growl and playfully whip her legs with my, now, damp towel. She laughs and doges away to talk to Iggy. Her place is quickly taken by none other than Max.

"How are you not cold?" Amazement is obvious in my voice.

She raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm always cold; I can never seem to get warm."

The statement sounds so sad but there is no self-pity in her tone. She is simply stating a fact. Her eyes have that clouded look again, closed off almost, and I sigh.

"So when are we going to look for Killer Ride's letter to your father?" She asks.

I shrug. "I guess tomorrow after school, I don't have anything planned. You?"

"Nope, sounds like a plan, Stan."

"You know, I never got that saying..."

She grins at me. "Neither have I."

It's impossible _not_ to smile back at her. "Then why do you say it."

"Why do people decide to tie a rope around their waist and jump off I bridge? I don't know, cause they can."

"Yeah, you'd probably cut my line and shove me off when I'm not paying attention- OW!" I yelp when I receive a hard jab to my arm, and let me tell you, she's strong.

"What, you know you would!" I defend, laughing despite the bruise forming on my shoulder.

She scowls. "Only if there is water underneath. I don't want to kill you... yet."

"I feel so reassured." She rolls her eyes at my sarcasm.

"Come on, we don't want you guys getting sick out in this cold with wet clothes." She stands and offers me a hand up from my place on the ground. Surprising myself, and probably everyone else, I allow her to help me to my feet.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't be soaked to the core if _someone_ hadn't pushed me off a freaking cliff."

"Suck it up you big baby." She pats my head though I stand towering over her. Yet I have a feeling that she could easily beat me in a fight...

Maybe it's because when we were talking, her dangerous aura had returned.

* * *

><p>I sigh tiredly as I sit outside during lunch the next day. Since it's pretty warm today, we decided to enjoy the temporary nice weather. Arguing had broken out just a few minutes before and at the center of all of this is Max and Iggy. You can see why I'm drained now right?<p>

Queue another sigh from me.

_And I was so hoping today would just be another boring day._ I think wistfully, looking at the few clouds overhead.

Iggy suddenly lunges forward and snatches Max's cap off her head before she can react, but when she does, she launches herself to her feet.

Before it was just a playful disagreement but know I see something icy and serious in her cold glare.

"Give that back." She growls.

I sit up at the change in atmosphere but Iggy doesn't seem to notice it because he prances farther away with a laugh.

"Iggy, I'm serious; give it back." My heart beats faster with the threat in her voice. Again, Iggy is oblivious to her stern tone.

"You have to catch me first. Maybe I'll throw in in a toilet" He grins playfully.

It happens quick; just a flash of silver and a thud. The knife catches his sleeve and jerks him backwards and it lodges deep into the brick wall. The thin metal had somehow been thrown hard enough to sink two inches deep into the rock.

A deafening silence follows, as all wide eyes turn to Max whose hand is still suspended in the air.

Then she stalks forward to rip her hat out of his slack hand and slide the steel from the wall with a horrible scraping sound.

Iggy's arm drops to his side, shock still evident on his face and she firmly sets her cap back onto her mess of blond hair.

"Don't _ever_ touch my hat."

Iggy nods vigorously and she smirks at him before going to sit back down on the cool grass. And just like that, the frosty air vanishes as if in never happened.

We all watch curiously as Max tucks her retrieved knife back into her boot and a cookie appears in her hand.

She munches on it happily as if nothing had happened at all and I start to wonder... Is Max finally showing some of her real self? Just how dangerous is this strange girl?

* * *

><p><strong>So I hope you like this chapter. And again, I'm so sorry for not updating this in such a long time and I really hope it doesn't cost me any readers.<strong>

**If you don't know for some reason, I just finished my _New Hope?_ fanfic and if you hadn't read it, please check it out.**

**You guys are really amazing and don't worry, these updates are going to be frequent; at least once a week.**

**Please let me know what you think, your opinions mean so much to me. Let me know if you have any questions.**

**Oh, and after I finish this, I'm going to start back up on _My Strength_, so if you stick with me throughout this story, you should look for that when this is done.**

**Thanks again so much for everything guys.**

**-feather flyer**


	7. Chapter 7

** So here it is, enjoy.**

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><p>The last thing that I expected, or wanted, was for me to meet Max at Wal-Mart. Which just goes to show, the universe hates me. Thanks universe!<p>

So I'm walking through Wal-Mart buying food for my family when I literally run into Max. As in, I hit her with my shopping cart and she slams into the cereal boxes stacked on the shelves.

"Sorry!" I rush forward to help the girl up, cause at the time, I didn't know it was her.

As I get a look at her face (her glare), I drop my arm.

"I know you don't like me all that much, but do you have to try to kill me? Besides, if you wanted to kill someone so badly, I have a few more effective ways. And I'm thinking about a few new ways right now." She said, pointedly glaring at me. Not that I needed the hint; her eyes said enough.

"I said I'm sorry." I grumble as I go back to helping her up. "What are you even doing here?"

"I got hungry and I ran out of food. I'm hungry. This is a shopping center, is it not?"

Geez, again whit the being right. I really should stop asking questions to obvious answers.

"Now that your here."

She tails off, then sprints away. I stare after her, dumbfounded. Then she comes running back with arms full of chocolate chip cookie packs.

She has about ten and throws them into my cart.

Then she sprints away again.

I physically face palm as she comes back with another armful.

She grabs my cart and starts wheeling it to checkout. "You coming?" She asks over her shoulder.

I jog to catch up.

"How are you going to pay for all that?"

I response, she holds up a wallet... _my_ wallet.

"What the-" I pat my pockets. "You can't take my wallet, that's stealing."

She raises an eyebrow. "Is it really stealing if I tell you I have it and you don't do anything to get it back? Besides, you owe me; you tried to kill me."

"No!" I try to snatch it back but she pulls it out of my reach. "Pay for your own food, and _you_ tried to kill _me_ twice!"

She pouts. "But I don't have any money."

I hold my breath for a moment before letting it out. "Fine."

She smiles and tosses me my wallet. "Awesome!" Somehow a cookie appears in her hand like the first time we met and she sticks in her mouth happily.

I shake my head and sigh. But a small smile tugs on my lips.

"What are you smilin about?" She asks amusedly over her shoulder as the check out lady starts running the food through the scanner.

"Nothing." I shake my head and pull out the amount of money for the food that mostly consists of Chips Ahoy, ignoring the strange looks from the casher.

"So you want to go ahead and come over? I mean, I know that we agreed that you would come over at five but, since you're already here you can go ahead and come over."

"Sure." She says picking up four bags while I pick up the rest.

* * *

><p>"So where's your dad's office?" Max asks, in my opinion, all too eager.<p>

"Down here." I say leading her past the stairs and into a small study. I look around a little longingly. "Nothing has been moved since he left. I guess my mom is still kind of hoping that he'll come back."

When I turn around to face Max, an odd expression is quickly wiped from her face... It looked a little like guilt and a lot like confusion.

"I'm sorry." She says, I think surprising herself as much as me.

"You didn't kill him." I shrug and turn back around the disorderly office. "Anyway, I didn't want to mess with anything until you got here so I didn't move anything."

Her voice is strangely emotionless when she answers after a long moment. "Right."

Then instead of shouldering past me like she normally would, she silently slips past almost as if she were _trying_ not to touch me.

I follow after her as she carefully riffles through the scattered papers.

"So why are you trying to find my dad's killer?"

Seconds drag on to minutes and I'm about to ask again when she replies with a guarded voice. "I knew him as a kid, he took care of my brother and I after my parents died."

A strange feeling shoots through me, one that I can't place.

"He never told me about you." I say skeptically.

"He told me about you." She says finally stilling her hands and turning to face me with a sigh.

"He was the only father figure I had growing up, besides my brother, but he was only two years older than me, still just a kid. He was the only adult to ever be nice to us. He took us to the facility where they practice science and we lived there until I was twelve was my brother took me and we ran away."

My heart pounds loudly in my ears, questions whirl in my brain that I know I can't ask. "So it's because you feel like you owe him."

An odd smirk quirks her lips and she shrugs before tuning back to job at hand.

The ice that had slowly chipped off from her story of her past, stays at our feet instead of freezing back over like normal.

"He used to tell us stories about you, the first day he took you to school, how you had a best friend that always got you into trouble by blowing stuff up. He told me about how Gazzy's sister was born, you always took care of her like your own sister because you've always wanted one, or how your family always went camping on Labor Day with all your friends."

She crouches down to look through a drawer.

"I guess I just kind of stupidly fell in love with the idea of a family with the way he always talked of you."

"How is that stupid?" I ask kneeling down beside her.

She only glances at me. "Because it will never happen. My mom and dad are dead, and my brother has been sick for years."

I'm left in stunned silence as she moves around me to the next drawer.

"Found it." She says straightening up. I bolt to her side and practically snatch it out of her hand, ignoring her half-hearted glare to read it over.

_Miss me? 12:00am, you know where._

_-M_

That's it. That's all it said.

I sigh and let Max pull it from my hands to look it over.

"The M means something, maybe the beginning of a name?" She asks putting a hand my shoulder. Oddly enough, her hand isn't freezing me through my shirt. I notice that for the first time since we met, she has a little warmth in her body.

I wonder how long it will last.

I shrug and walk out of my dad's office to sit on the couch in the living room.

"It could be anything, though it's likely part of a name."

She nods as she leaps over the back of the couch to sit on the balls of her feet with her knees pulled to her chest while she munches on a cookie.

She stares off into space like she's contemplating deeply about something.

"Ok, what are you doing?" I finally blurt out.

She looks at me with curiosity. "Have you watched an anime called Death Note?"

I shake my head. "I don't watch anime."

"Oh." She frowns in disappointment. "Well you should; it's awesome."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask exasperated.

"Oh, right! Well you see, there is this character and he's the world's best detective and he always sits like this. He says that it increases your deduction ability by 30%... At least I think it's thirty..." She trails off lost in thought.

I sigh.

How am I ever going to find my father's killer?

* * *

><p><strong>So let me know what you think. Please leave a review, they are my inspiration to writing.<strong>

**Thanks guys.**

**-feather flyer**


	8. Chapter 8

**So this is just a filler chapter; a tiny bit of fluff if you squint.**

* * *

><p>I stare in disbelief at my luck. My school, my friends, now my gym?<p>

"You have got to be kidding me." I deadpan as I walk into the martial arts studio early on a Saturday morning.

Max turns away from her swinging punching bag to face me with an ironic smirk.

"Hey." She says simply and turns back to the bag to continue beating the crap out of it. Since not many people are crazy enough to get up this early on a weekend just to work out, you can hear the hard thump each hit the bag takes.

Even I wince as it practically bends in half at her final kick.

Then she turns back to face me once more as she wipes the slight perspiration that graces her forehead. "What's up?" She asks.

"What are you doing here?" I sigh, to which she gives me an exasperated look.

"Working out." Again with that duh tone that make my eye want to twitch in irritation.

See, there it is! It just twitched; did you see it? Of course you didn't.

I sigh.

"Fine then. Would you like to spar?" I ask, setting down my gym bag to start taping my hands.

Expecting a no, I start a little when she just grins and says, "Bring it on." Of course she would want to, this is Max we are talking about. Anyone who has known her for a few _seconds_ would come to the conclusion that this is not your typical teenage girl.

I begrudgingly step onto the chilly mat and she bows to me. I reluctantly bow as well.

A kick immediately snaps up, so fast that I barely have time to block it. Only after do I realize that it was light and teasing. Soon, we fall into a steady fight, kicking and punching, and blocking and parrying.

Only two minutes in do I realize that she is going light, not really trying.

I pick up my pace wanting to force her into really working and she goes to the defense.

Soon, the collar of her shirt in bunched up in my left hand and my right is fisted, aimed at her face. I'm breathing hard but I smile.

"Does this mean I win?"

A smirk flashes across her face and she leans forward. Her head goes down toward her toes, her back leg lifts up, and she twists. Her foot slams into my face and I fly backwards.

I don't know how it happens, but I find myself on my back. Max is sitting on my chest with one leg stretched out casually. Her elbow rests on her bent knee and her chin on her fist. She smiles lazily down at me.

"Don't you wish."

She's _not even out of breath_.

There it goes again. Did you see my eyebrow just twitch?

She lets me shove her off and she laughs when she lands on her butt. A lump lodges in my throat and my heart speeds up at the sound. It's not a mocking or scheming laugh, just one of enjoyment.

I sit up with a playful scowl and lightly kick her leg.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" She quiets down some to pay attention.

"How do you best me every time, with anything? How did you become friends with my friends so quickly, or get my mom to love you in a matter of seconds, or do these _crazy_ things and I can't even find a reason to be mad at you?"

She scoots closer slightly to rest a hand on my foot.

"I'm not normal Fang; I didn't _grow_ _up_ normal. I don't know why I get away with these things and is it such a bad think that people like me? That's all I've wanted for the past fourteen years of my life; to belong. Is it such a bad thing that I might have found that?"

An odd look twists her face.

"I know your not normal." I say. "And I didn't mean the questions in a bad way, more of in awe. Come on." I say pushing myself to my feet and offering her a hand up. "Let's go again. I'm going to win this time."

She rolls her eyes as she allows me to pull her up. With her hand in mine, I notice the slight warmness seeping into my palm and I smile as she says, "Sure." In her sarcasticly playful voice.

My pulse races, from anticipation I guess, as I let go of her hand and step back.

"And just so you know, you do have friends here... Even if you are crazy." I add the last part with a grin but my heart plummets a few stories when I see that odd look twist her face again.

But then it's gone and she's grinning as she bows. "Bring it on _Tooth_."

"Oh, charming." I say with a matching smile.

* * *

><p><em>Thud<em>. An hour later finds me again on my back with Max hovering above me. The only difference being that it took her longer to get me there and now she is panting as well.

"Let's go again." I say pushing her off.

She groans. "We've already gone six times."

"I will beat you." I say once again getting to my feet.

"Not goanna happen." She rolls her eyes while letting me pull her up.

I don't know what possesses me to do it, but I step closer to whisper in her ear, "In the end, I will be on top." before releasing her and getting into my guard.

I can almost fool myself into believing that the flush in her cheeks from the workout, is a blush.

* * *

><p><em>Thud<em>.

I gasp as my back slams into the ground for what seems like the fiftieth time today. The afternoon sun is shining though the windows of the gym as a few more people are on the machines in the back as we continue to beat away at each other.

Sweat sticks to my skin grossly, plastering some of my hair to my face and for the first time ever, making me wish for a haircut.

Max plops down heavily beside me as I try to catch my breath. She's breathing nearly as hard as I am and she even has a thin shine of sweat across her skin.

About ten takedowns ago, she had shed a layer of clothing so just her bottom tank top is glued down from perspiration. I, myself, had removed my own shirt a while ago.

"Again." I say, feeling like icicles are being shoved into my lungs with every wheeze.

Max groans from beside me. "How many times are we going to do this?"

"Until I win."

"Fine." she huffs, and before i can drag myself to my feet, she grabs my arm and rolls me on top of her. "Oh no, you beat me!" she says dryly.

My heart pounds as I push her away an attempt to get off. "Ha ha." I drawl sitting back on my heels to look down on her.

She smiles while closing her eyes for a moment before opening them back up to stare at me.

"Come on, don't be suck a buzz kill. As much as I love beating your butt over, and over, and over, and over-"

"-Okay, I get it."

"-and over again, lets go do something fun. If you haven't beaten me yet, your not going to today." She says sitting up as well. Because I haven't moved back much, we are close, our faces only about a foot apart.

I really hope, she can't hear how hard my heart is pounding, or assume my blush would be because of the workout. Hey, don't judge me, she _is_ still a girl; it's natural to have this kind of a reaction to her closeness. Right?

"And what would we do?" I play along, ignoring the jab of not beating her.

She shrugs. "I don't know; paintball? Swimming? Hide and go seek?"

"Hide and go seek?" I snort. "What are we, five?"

"Hey." She raises her hands in defense. "Five year olds have a lot of fun, don't they?"

"Alright," I say smirking. "if you can convince the rest of the flock to play your childish game of hide and seek, I'll play too."

A light shines in her eyes at the challenge and a smile forms like she's already won.

As if. I'd like to see her try to pull this one off because there is no way that-

* * *

><p>"Unbelievable." I say dumbfounded, staring at the entire flock gathered in the woods and hopping up and down in excitement to play <em>hide<em> _and_ _go_ _seek_.

"One, two, three, nose goes!" Max calls happily from beside me.

Again, I watch in astonishment as every single person gathered, including little Angel, puts their finger to their nose, desperate not to be It. "Fang is it It. Everybody scatter; he has to count to sixty!"

Faster than I can blink, they all disappear into the trees.

Mere seconds later, I hear Max call out, seemingly from all directions, "I don't hear counting!" in that irritating yet enticing, teasing tone.

An amused smile splits my disbelieving expression and with a shake of my head, I start to count. "One... two... three..."

Maybe on the inside we are all just big five year olds, and maybe it's okay to act like it sometimes.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you like it, even if nothing exciting happened except a nice work out and a mean game of hide and seek.<strong>

**Now raise your hand if you still play this; be truthful now. *hand shoots up into air***

**If you raised your hand, your prize is one imaginary cookie. If you review, you can get another cookie.**

**-feather flyer**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, I just wrote this in a rush, but it is on time! I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Over the next few weeks, this search for my father's killer dies down. I'm not desperately looking for answers like I was planning on doing, but just taking it slow.<p>

Throughout this time though, I really come to realize how reliable Max is. Not just in finding the killer, but as a friend too. And Angel just absolutely adores her. She would probably shove me off another cliff for even thinking this, but I think Max is just as fond of the little six year old.

Though she does get on my nerves when she steals my money to buy herself cookies when she runs out. I swear, that girl is going to get diabetes when she gets older, with all the sugar she consumes.

It's become kind of a habit to just hang out and talk after school, but on Fridays and Saturdays, it's time to work.

I sigh for what seems like the millionth time since I walked through Max's door that afternoon and suddenly, a cold glass of red liquid is being pushed into my hands.

The action and force would seem impatient, if not rude, to anyone else, but I had learned by now that that's just how Max is.

Shooting her a fleeting glance I take a sip of the cherry drink. "Thanks." I say as she carefully studies me.

She does this a lot and I should be used to this by now, but her eyes, almost cold, no, calculating, always unnerve me. It's like she's trying to look deep in my mind for something, but I don't know what.

She breaks her stare by looking down at the slip of paper loosely hanging from my fingertips.

"I don't think you're going to find out much else with that." She nods at the paper, wrinkled from so many times I've sat here staring at the same words scrawled in the same perfect script, like it could me on some fancy holiday card.

_Miss me?_

I read again. These words had confirmed my suspicions. My father knew his killer: Killer Ride. I can't even imagine what he must have done to want someone to kill him that much.

"It's been over a month, and we still haven't fond anything new." I sigh tossing the slip onto the cluttered coffee table and taking another sip of Max's favorite drink.

"It's your dad." She shrugs though a weird light comes into her eyes. "Only you know what he would do or know how to find the next clue."

"You knew him too, why can't you think of something?" I scowl.

"I only knew the scientist him; you're his son."

"Yeah, well it's not like we went to the park to play ball like most boys and their dad. We just had a traditional once a month bonding day."

"Still more than I ever had." I hear her mutter and I instantly regret my words. It's hard to remember to watch what I say around her because it's just so easy to let my mouth ramble with her. And despite her laid back attitude and easily brushing it off when ever I quickly apologize, I know that somewhere inside her, it does hurt.

Quiet thickly folds over us as I look away from her downcast eyes. "Sorry." I finally murmur.

A grin flashes across her face. "You don't need to be." She says, gracefully getting to her feet. "I'm goanna get some air, want to come?" She asks.

"Naw." I wave her off.

"Alright." She easily agrees, and is out the door is a few nimble strides.

Once again sighing, I feel the beginning of a headache throb in my temples when I look back down at the black and white sheets.

"I think I'm going to take a nap." I mutter to the empty room and lean forward to set my cool drink on a coaster.

But I see too late that the cup was set just too close to the edge. Not in slow motion at all, the glass tips toward the ground, sloshing red liquid on the rug pinned down by the couch and table.

"Shit!" I curse leaping up to snatch the fallen item from the ground and instinctively shooting my eyes to the door. "Oh, Max is going to _kill_ me!"

Hastily setting the now empty cup to the side, I lunge for something to mop up the mess. Even I know though, that Kool-Aid is not an easy stain to get out.

In a desperate attempt, I flip up the rug to see how deep the stain went, but am frozen but the uneven mark of the wood underneath. I run my hand over the odd bumps until I come to a small indent.

Pushing back the carpet even more, I pull open the trap door.

The air that puffs out of the opening is cold and dry, like any ordinary basement would be, but I was still curious. I mean, come on; If you were in a friend's house and find a secret trap door, wouldn't you take a peek too?

I drop down into the room, the ground being close enough to ignore the ladder. Only a foot away, I duck into a door way and emerge in a room that I would imaging a security room to look like, with computers stacked one on top of the other against the wall to the left, but against the right wall, a bed rests.

In that bed is a boy that seems to be about seventeen or eighteen, and I think that he's dead at first glance. But when I walk closer for a better look, I see the exceedingly slow rise and fall of his chest.

He has blond hair and his face is incredibly boyish, contradicting a scar that runs across his left eyes, just skipping the hollow of the socket. But it's the way his skin is deathly pale in the dim yellow light that first made me think that he was a corpse.

My head swivels back toward the computers and I take a cautious step forward.

I doubtfully wiggle the mouse and the screens surprise me by flashing to life.

All the saliva in my throat seems to have gone dry, making it hard to swallow as I look over the images. There are six computers in all and on all six screens, a familiar setting takes place.

The first video feed is of my bedroom, the next is my dad's office, then my mom's bedroom, the two hallways on different screens, but the last one is an unfamiliar room save for the man in it.

On the last computer on the very right side, all the way at the bottom, is the live feed of a small room, empty except for the single chair with a single figure tied to it: my father.

I turn to the back wall, where between the bed and computers, is an old metal door.

I don't know what my thoughts are, they're to scrambled to understand. Nothing makes since, nothing fits. My father is alive? He's in Max's house, the girl who has been searching so hard for his killer and who has been helping me all along?

I take a slow unsteady step toward the door, a slight inkling of what's behind it swimming through my veins and sending my heart racing.

My eyes dart to the bed where the boy still lays, still as death.

And just who is this boy? Is he Max's brother? He's definitely sick...

Standing just a foot from the door now, I turn back to stare at it, barely able to breathe.

My hand touches the knob, cold and hard under my palm, and suddenly a sharp pain springs from my neck, making me gasp, and spreads numbingly through my body. My eyes grow impossibly heavy until they shut and everything goes dark with a softly swearing voice in my ear.

***line break***

"Fang, come on, you have to get up." I feel something nudge me hard in the ribs, causing me to arch away from it. "Come on, you can spend the night if you want, but at least call your mom first so she knows where you are." The voice persists so I force my heavy lips open to stare dumbly at Max who hovers annoyedly above me.

As some of the words finally make it to my muddled brain, I sit up quickly, the grog still clinging to me the slightest bit to make me dizzy.

"Whoa there, tiger, slow down. Where's the flood?" She steadies me.

My eyes reflexively dart to the ground where I had spilt my drink, but there wasn't a single mark on the carpet. Then my eyes find my drink sitting in it's place on a coaster, un-spilled.

I then become aware of the slight throbbing in my head, reminding me of my idea to take a nap. I must have been dreaming then.

"Urg, can you get me some aspirin? I have a killer headache." She frowns worriedly at me and touches my temple lightly, her cool fingers soothing the ache a little.

"Yeah, sure, I'll be right back."

When she leaves the room, I can't help but launch myself from the couch, ignoring my pounding head, and flip up the rug.

I run my hand over the smooth wood on the ground, and on closer examination of the rug, don't find a single flaw to even suggest that there had been a spill there.

I pick myself up and flop back onto the couch as Max reappears in the door way with a glass of water and two white pills.

Huh, what an odd dream to have.

"Thanks." I sigh in relief and down them both at once, not realizing how parched I really was until the cold liquid slids down my throat.

"Sure." She replies, studying me in that way of hers. "So are you going to leave, or spend the night?" She asks handing me my phone, already knowing my answer.

I grimace when I see the time and, handing the glass back to Max, lean back into the cushions while bringing my phone to my ear to call my mom and let her know where I was.

"Hey mom." I say when she picks up on the third ring.

_"Hey sweetie, what's up? Are you going to be home soon?"_

Sigh. "No, I kind of fell asleep at Max's. Can I spend the night?" I ask.

Hearing the smile in her voice, I once again grimace. _"Of course you can."_ She says happily. _"Just be home before dinner tomorrow, oh, and bring Max!"_ Then the line goes dead before I get the change to say 'no'.

"So," Max says flopping down next to me with an obvious grin. "Dinner with the parents huh?"

I groan and rub my hands over my face. Of course she heard the conversation, why wouldn't she?

"She's going to try to embarrass me." I mumble.

"Ooo, we should work together."

"Between the two of you, I'm sure I'd be dead by desert.

She hums in agreement. "But wouldn't that be an interesting way to die?"

"You are so _weird_." I say shoving her, unable to help but match her smile with one of my own.

"But you love me anyway." She teases, though my heart seems to still be having a delayed reaction to my dream or something, it was thrumming do fast.

"Mmm." I hum in agreement good naturally.

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you think, the review button is below.<strong>

**There might be a side chapter up this week, but it will be very short. The real one will still be up at the regular time, so don't worry about that.**

**As always, thanks for reading, see you next chapter!**

**Oh, and I almost forgot, should the next chapter be on their 'date' with his mom?**

**-feather flyer**


	10. Intermission

**This is not the real chapter, just an in between thing, though reviews are still appreciated.**

* * *

><p>I watch her intently as she looks over the menu, carefully reading over each option. Her lip tugs down slightly on one side from her concentration, her eyebrows furrow.<p>

Finally she sets down the laminated paper as reaction to the silent footsteps she seems to hear long before me.

"May I take your order?" A pretty waitress asks appearing between us. I lean forward slightly, waiting for Max's answer.

She lifts up the menu to point something out on it as answer. She doesn't say it out loud, making me groan in frustration.

"And you?" I'm asked.

"Just the steak and potato." I reply somewhat disappointed.

With a nod and swirl of her heel, she disappears.

I continue my staring as she looks around the small restaurant.

I open my mouth to question her, but before I get the chance, a dessert plate is set in front of Max, and on it, a _cookie_.

I swear, I face planted the table.

We are at a nice place to have lunch, and she gets a cookie. _Seriously_?

When I finally lift up my head, my own plate is set in front of me and my resolve hardens. Glancing at Max, I'm not even surprised to see the cookie already gone.

I _will_ see her eat real food.

Cutting of a chunk of meat, I set it in front of Max, making her look up at me in surprise.

"Eat." I demand, narrowing my eyes as I focus on her.

I have never seen her eat anything other that cookies, and I am determined to.

She cocks her head in an adorable way, almost like a puppy, but she takes my fork anyway.

My attention is quickly snapped away though, by a huge cake bumping into our table as four waiters dance around singing happy birthday to a smiling little boy.

By the time my eyes snap back to Max, her plate is empty and she's setting the fork back on my plate.

I _missed_ it.

Once again, I go to face plant the table only there is a plate in front of this time, and instead of getting a face full of wood, I get mashed potatoes up my nose.

Great.

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><p><strong>So there it is, the intermission.<strong>

**The real chapter will be up at the regular time.**


	11. Chapter 10

**I feel like no one is reading this story anymore... Is my writing getting worse, less interesting...?**

**Sigh.**

**Here's the next chapter anyway, sorry if it's not any good.**

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><p>My eyebrow twitches in voluntarily as I look back and forth between the two women, hell bent on make me blush fire engine red.<p>

My eyes narrow as Max tilts her head back and lets out a tinkling laugh, sure that it was at my expense when her eyes dart over to me with a mischievous glint.

From my position on the couch, I can't hear any real words said as the bustle around the kitchen, getting things set up for dinner. Max lets out a giggle at something my mom says and my legs twitch, wanting to go in there myself and find out what is was, but I know that if I do, they will just stop what they're doing and stare until I feel uncomfortable enough to make a hasty exit.

It's just not fair, not to mention nerve wracking, not knowing what they're telling each other about me!

I huff before sitting back into the couch cushion, turning my back on the two tittering woman in my life.

I jump about a foot in the air, though, when I hear a loud clap from the kitchen door way. Spinning in my seat, I nearly giving myself couch-burn.

My mom grins down at me. "Dinner's ready."

"It's about time." I huff, smiling after only a moment's pause to show that I didn't really mean it. Kind of.

I make my way to the dining room table where Max is already bouncing in her seat, making me roll my eyes when I see a giant plate of my mom's homemade cookies sitting in front of her.

Expecting my mom reprimand her for eating desert first, my jaw drops when she takes a seat after setting a plate full of fish, broccoli, and rice in front of me and herself saying, "Dig in!" She doesn't even bat an eye at Max as she starts wolfing down the still warm cookies.

Grumbling to myself, I follow her example and start on my food without saying anything. I learned that you might as well not question it, it won't get you any closer to answers.

Max, of course, finishes before us, guzzling down a red liquid that I can only assume is red Kool-Aid.

I roll my eyes as I set my fork down to take a sip of my own drink, plain old water.

"So, Max, you and Fang met at school?" My mom asks as she too, takes a sip of water.

"Yes." I quickly reply before Max even gets the chance to open her mouth.

Looking at me curiously she slowly replies. "Yes, I suppose so." My relief is evident in my eyes as she continues on with more confidence and a sly smile. "He almost killed me, running down the hall."

I groan as my mother shoots me a disapproving look. "And you just moved here? Where from?"

She becomes a little more hesitant. "My brother and I have moved all over the place, we just came here from Los Angeles."

"So you lived in the city, do you like it better up there than here in the middle of nowhere?"

She smiles now. "I really like it out here. It's more..." She searches for the right word. "quiet. Plus, I've got friends here."

My mom smiles as well at the obvious affection in her voice, shooting a not so inconspicuous glance my way. Max's smile grows.

"Yes." She says to the silent question. "Fangy boy here is my best friend."

An odd feeling flutters in my chest, one that I can't place.

"Ah well, life sure has been more interesting with you around. I know Nudge has been ecstatic to have someone who actually watches anime to talk to, and actually understand her meaning."

"You should actually give it a chance. You know, you actually remind me of this one character, Ciel, from Black Butler. You could be his twin." A snicker falls from her lips; one that makes me think that maybe she just insulted me, but not knowing how. **(A/N: read author's not at the bottom for explanation)**

"Yes well, unlike you, I'm not a child." I tease, despite the insult I did not understand, and lightly bump her shoulder with mine.

"Says the one who throws a fit if he can't win a spar."

"Says the one who got the entire flock to play _Hide and Seek_ afterward." I retort.

"And guess who also threw a fit when I found them, too."

"Oh please, I did not throw a fit." I scowl at her growing smirk.

"You were totally sulking."

"That's because _no_ _one_ like to be found first and somehow, you knew where to find me. You totally cheated!"

"And you say you're not child." She scoffs.

"As if! You're the one who-"

"Guys!" My mom interrupts our argument with an amused smile. I only then notice how we were leaning closer and closer with each defense we came up with, our faces now inches apart.

A scowl crosses Max's face as she leans back in her chair to pout.

I lean back as well, shoving a blush back down my neck.

"You both act like children." She chuckles at our matching brooding faces. "And how did you get him to play Hide and Seek?" She asks turning to Max who perks up instantly to launch into the story of my stupidly made challenge.

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><p>"So why didn't you tell her the truth of how we met?" Max asks when I close the door to my room after dinner.<p>

Flopping down onto the bed, I throw my arm over my eyes with a sigh. "After dad disappeared, things got bad, especially for my mom. If she knew that I was looking into the case... well, I don't know what would happen. She'd freak, and I don't want to upset her."

I feel the bed sink where Max sits down beside me.

She's silent for a few minutes, and I almost want to peak at her expression when she finally replies. "You really care about her, don't you?"

I do look at her now, shifting onto my side to better look her in the eye. "Of course. I care for all my family."

"All?" She asks.

"Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, even you now."

That odd look enters her eyes again but it doesn't make sense. Why would guilt break through her carefully built walls? What does she even have to feel guilty about?

"I'm your family?" She asks, an odd hitch to her voice and I nod.

"All my friends are."

She sits up suddenly, quit suddenly, making my jump to a sitting position as well.

"What's wrong, are you okay?" I ask, but she turns her face away so I can't see her eyes.

Instead of that dangerous aura feeling I had come to be used to, she suddenly has a vulnerable feel to her.

"I'm fine." She says with a wave of her hand. "I think I just ate too many cookies."

I roll my eyes as I go to lay back down. "I told you that you shouldn't eat so much in one sitting."

She flops back onto her back as well, the strange helplessness dissipating as quickly as it came. "I can't help it, they're just too good." She defends, making me smile.

For some strange reason, I feel my arm numbly reach out and wrap around Max, pulling her into my chest. She stiffens at first, but then for some even stranger reason, she lets me continue to hold her.

Holding Max is strange. She's always so independent, intimidating even, and not someone you would think to allow anyone to hold her. But in my arms right now, she seems like just a girl, surprisingly small and still cool to the touch, though in a few moments, I feel her skin start to share some of my body heat.

"Warm." She murmurs in what sounds like a surprised voice, turning into me to hug me tighter.

Then again, she's not _just a girl_, cause _just a girl_ can't sent my heart pounding through my entire body.

I gently remove her baseball cap, the one she always wears everywhere, and set it beside her on the bed before she can throw knives at _me_ like she had Iggy.

Brushing my fingers gently through her hair, I ask her the question that has been burn in my mind since that day. "Why is this hat so important to you?"

I feel more that hear her sigh against my collarbone. "It was my father's and he gave it to my brother, Ari, before he died. Then Ari gave it to me before he got sick." She shrugs awkwardly in my arms.

"Oh." I knew it; she does care for her parents, even if she can't really remember them. "I guess I would have thrown a knife at Iggy too, then."

A surprised laugh bursts from her lips, making me smile too.

"I did kind of over react, didn't I?"

"Just I bit." Her tinkling laugh sends a thrill of happiness through my veins.

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><p><strong>So Ciel is basically this rich brat that needs saving every day, as for explanations go. I hope you enjoyed, if there is really anyone reading this.<strong>

**-feather flyer**


	12. Chapter 11

**Thank you for the reassurances, and please still leave a review. They really do help and ideas are always appreciated.**

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><p>Rage courses through me, making my blood pound in my veins and a ringing sound in my ears. The officer standing in front of me shifts uncomfortably under my glare.<p>

He at least has the decency to keep his eyes down ashamedly as my mother clutches onto my arm, weeping.

"So that's it? You're just going to give up?" I ask, my voice hard.

"I'm sorry Mr. Martinez, but it's been six months with no trace of your father. We have not choice but to presume him dead."

I turn into my mom to hug her closer as she starts to shake. "What about Killer Ride, you going to stop looking for her too?"

He still refuses to meet my eyes. "There haven't been any more leads in months, the police are stumped. It's just crazy that no one seems to be able to remember anything about Killer Ride, it's not natural."

"So you're giving up." I say dryly.

"No, of course not-"

"It doesn't matter, you may leave now."

"Mr.-"

"Thank you officer, but you are no longer welcome here."

He hesitates, and then dips his head respectively. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"You mean wont." He opens his mouth to argue, but I send the door shut, slamming against its frame.

I turn back to look over the room, all my friends gathered around the living room looking at anything but each other with sad expressions.

Max had risen from her seat on the couch to lay her hand on my mother's shoulder for comfort, but she turned into Max to cry on her shoulder instead.

Max's face is twisted with guilt again, mixed with sadness and regret. Then she looks up to meet my angry eyes and she flinches, I've never seen her flinch from anyone before, like my hate is directed at her. But it's not; it's directed toward the police and Killer Ride.

"Fang I-..." She hesitates. "I have to tell you something."

My eyes soften at her vulnerable look and nod, taking my mother's arm and lead her to have a seat with Nudge, where she comforts her.

Then I take Max's hand with little thought and lead her to another room.

"What is it?"

She looks me in the eye then with such regret that it makes my heart speed up. "Fang, I'm _so_ sorry. I-"

I lay my hands on her shoulders to stop her words right there. "It's not your fault Max, you have nothing to feel guilty about. This is all Killer Ride's doing."

"Yeah, but I-"

"-And when I figure out who she is, I'm goanna kill her like she did all those other people."

Max stiffens under my hand and her eyes go blank before hardening. "What?"

"Killer Ride has caused my family so much pain. When I find her, I'm going to kill her. She wont ever hurt anyone again."

She smiles, though it's not a happy smile but something cruel. "I hope you do. Just don't let her kill you first."

That smile of hers sends a cold chill straight down my spine like lightning. I suddenly feel like I had just make a huge mistake in some way, and guilt crawls through me, though I don't know what I have to feel guilty about.

Maybe wanting to put a bullet through someone? I don't know why I would feel guilty about that; she killed my father... Or maybe it was making Max look like that, like she can't wait for Killer Ride's death. She shouldn't think like that, this is my problem, not hers. She doesn't need to have the thoughts of a killer.

"I'm sorry." I say. "You shouldn't have to think about that."

"No worries." She replies in a cheeriness that would make almost anyone believe. "You and me together, right? Hunting down a killer."

"No, you're going to have no part in this."

"Oh I can assure you, that if you're going to kill Killer Ride, I'll be right there with you."

Sighing, I run a hand frustratedly through my hair. "I don't want you a part of this, I didn't even mean to tell you that part."

"Well." She says. "I'm glad you did. And I'm more of a part of this than you think. If you're going to kill her, I'll be there."

Before I can argue, she walks back into the other room to continue to comfort my mother who has calmed down some.

Today was a mess.

Ignoring them, I walk up the stairs to my room, slamming my door loudly and sucking in a deep breath.

"Damn it!" I curse fisting my hands in my hair.

I scramble over to my bed and drop to my knees, ignore the dust that tickles my nose. My arm reaches under the mattress and pulls out multiple papers.

_Don't forget the flowers for my grave. :3_

The note stares at me.

_Don't go looking._

it says.

_It will only get you killed._

He seems so sure that I have no chance against his killer. He knew her too. Just what had he done to deserve what he got?

"What did you do, Dad?" I ask the empty room. "Where did you know her from?"

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><p><strong>Sorry this chapter was so short, we're coming closer to the end. At least three more chapters.<strong>

**So, please leave a review, and thanks.**

**-feather flyer**


	13. Chapter 12

**Sorry for not posting last week, things have been a little hectic. Plus, I'm running out of ideas to get to the climax of the story. Sigh. Hopefully this will get me going again, it's just been so long sense I first thought of this story.**

**I hope you like it.**

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><p><strong>3rd Person POV<strong>

All around Max, the air is stale; you can almost taste the dust on your tongue when you breathe in. The room around her has an unnatural chill like anyplace that is under ground but it goes unnoticed by the girl whose skin seems to run cooler than the air.

She turns her eyes from the uninteresting wall to look to the side of the room where a bed is carefully placed. On that bed, a boy lays still and pale as death, only the slow rise and fall of his chest giving away that life courses through that body.

Looking at her brother used to always send a wave of rage through her veins that would send her on a rampage, destroying anything in the room she resided. Looking at her brother used to always drive another wave of cold cruelty through her heart.

Now when she looks down at the boy just a few years older than herself, only doubt and helplessness tugs at her breast.

Standing from her uncomfortable seat, she strides across the room to cup his transparent cheek, running her fingers through his limp hair.

She will never forgive them for what they did to her family. They escaped and they were okay for a little while, happy even. She could have let go what they did when she was trapped in that place, she could have moved on... But _they_ couldn't. They had to find them; they couldn't let them be.

Now everyone having to do with it, will pay.

She shot a glare at the door, lacking somewhat in its usual hate.

He has to tell her, he has to. People will do anything for the person the love, she's proving that right now, so why isn't he talking when she has his son right by her side every day and, sometimes, sleeping right above him?

Thinking of Fang's desperate search for his father sends that now familiar sickness into her stomach, fighting its way to her throat.

She doesn't know what it is, but she hates it.

It feels like someone is trying to tie her stomach into a knot and bile rises quickly just thinking about him. Thinking of his hateful declaration to kill Killer Ride, her, makes her eyes sting strangely.

All these emotions are foreign, unknowledgeable to her. She doesn't know what to make of it.

Max deduced the first time she met Fang that he didn't know what his father did; he's innocent.

She decided then in that security room that she wasn't going to kill him, just use him.

The sickness that appears with that thought is strong enough to make her double over, gripping the edge of her brother's bed tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

Sweat beads on her forehead, cold as her skin, as she fights the onslaught of vomit quickly crawling up her throat.

If only she could place this emotion, she can fix her actions to stop it. She'll do anything to make it stop; it almost hurts.

Straightening up, Max stares down at her brother once again, touching her frayed cap and remembering when he gave it to her. It was in that last action he said his last words to her.

"I promise I'll wake you up Ari; I'll do whatever it takes."

Placing a soft kiss on his forehead, she strides back over to her stack of computers, her attention turning to the boy getting ready for his own father's funeral, who is very much alive.

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><p><strong>Fang's POV<strong>

Why is it, that whenever you think of funerals, you imagine dark clouds and rain pouring down in sheets to poorly disguise tears?

In reality, it's not really like that. In reality, the world doesn't slow down and weep for death because if that were true, Earth would never see the sun. Death is everywhere, it is inevitable and there is no way to outrun it.

So as I stand there and watch the memorial for my father, I'm not offended that the sky doesn't cry for him or my family. It just continues to beat down warmly on my black shoulders, only a few puffs of white wisps visible in the sky and a cool breeze brushes through the graveyard, sending crunchy leaves swirling into the air at irregular bursts.

I glance over at Max whose hand is on my mothers back, along with Nudge's, in silent comfort.

As the girl who has become my best friend over these past few months looks down at my sobbing mother, that same look of guilt flashes in her eyes. She turns to me, as if sensing my studying of her, and gives a small smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

I give her a slight nod in recognition before turning away from the people giving their last respects. I don't need to stand there like he's dead; as far as I'm concerned he's not dead until they show me his body.

The street seems deserted as I walk back towards my house; no kids running around with parents chasing after them, no mother's working in their gardens. The whole town must have showed up for his funeral.

No one stops me as I walk away, only sending me pitying looks that I don't need. I'll find him, and then I'll kill Killer Ride, I just need another clue...

Not wanting to walk into my empty house, I enter the back gate to sit in my mother's garden that she had given up on years ago. She could never seem to keep the plants in there alive but we soon found that if we don't mess with it, the most beautiful flowers grow from it.

We could never figure out what kind they were, but ever since I first saw them grow when I was ten, they were my favorite.

My father was quite fond of them too; I think that's why I settled into the churned dirt.

They grow tall around me, just reaching my shoulders and when I breathe in, the most intoxicating aroma fills my nose. It's familiar and comfortable.

Smelling them now, brings back all kinds of memories of when I was little and my father would find me hiding in the tall floral after one of my parents rare fights.

One time, I was fourteen at this time, he sighed coming out of the house to see me curled up in the garden and sat down next to me in the dirt, pulling his own knees to his chest.

Even back then I didn't speak much, so he waited for me to break the silence first.

_"Why do you and mom fight?"_ I had asked and he looked at me with kind eyes.

_"These flowers are beautiful."_ He said instead, touching one of the delicate petals. _"Your mother used to try to grow plants a long time ago, but they would always die. Then she gave up and let nature run it's course and in it's wake, these beauties sprouted."_

_"What does that have to do with you and mom?"_ I had asked and got another kind smile.

_"When we try to force something, things turn bad, but when we let things work itself out, something beautiful will come of it. Sometimes we fight, fighting is inevitable, but if you let it run its course, something stronger will come of it."_

I had in silence for what had seemed like minutes before snorting at him with a small smile._ "That didn't make any sense."_ And he smiled as well.

_"No, I suppose not, but it sounded good right?"_

I only laughed and we fell into a much more calm silence as he continued to play with the delicate flowers around him.

It was maybe five minutes later when her finally spoke. _"I really love these flowers."_ He plucked one to inspect it better. _"I think when I die, I want you to put these flowers on my grave."_

I laughed shortly. _"Like I can ever get rid of you."_

He chuckled as well, a much deeper sound than mine.

My eyes widen at that memory, the familiarity of it hitting me hard.

_Don't forget the flower for my grave. :3_

I scramble to my feet and turn to look where I was sitting, finally noticing the oddity.

The dirt I was sitting on was looser than the other soil; a patch of flowers was missing that would normally have me carefully sitting to avoid crushing them.

Suddenly my heart is pounding at the idea of the hidden message in that note. If he wanted to tell me something, wouldn't it just be easier to write it in his first note?

I fall to my knees barely noticing them crush a few of my precious plants, and dig my hands into the loose dirt.

The soil comes up easily as I dig like I imagine a dog for a bone would, and this could vary well be the bone I have been waiting for, just outside my house all this time.

Finally after getting about a foot down, my fingers slam into something not made from nature and I carefully pry it from the ground.

My heart leaps into my throat as I brush off the Ziploc bag that holds a thickish file. My mind immediately goes to Max, knowing she will be as ecstatic as I am when she looks at this with me, but then I pause.

Warning signals start flash in my mind so I fall back onto my butt to look at it by myself first. More dirt falls away from the bag as I pull out the manila stuffed folder, my eyes immediately falling to the name stamped on the edge and my blood runs cold.

_Experiment 666: Ride, Maximum_

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><p><strong>So thanks for reading, please let me know what you think. I'm pretty sure the next one will be up on time but who knows, It's almost time for exams.<strong>

**Sigh.**

**-feather flyer**


	14. Chapter 13

**So here you go, right on time this week. I hope you enjoy.**

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><p>There are about three things that I'm absolutely sure of. The first being, I'm covered in dirt. The brown muck is rubbed into the knees of my jeans so deep that it will be a stain, and jammed under my nails so it will be there a week from now. Some more of the soil is smeared across my face and being caked into the creases of my palms.<p>

The second thing I'm certain about, is that it's hot. The sun beats down on me from above, plastering my black polo shirt to my skin in a layer of sweat. When I reach up to wipe some from my brow, more dirt smudges across my forehead.

The third thing that my brain realizes with sureness, is that I don't really know Maximum Ride at all.

I mean, yeah I know that she loves cookies and Kool-Aid, she is very childish when it comes to games, she has a way of getting anything she wants, she is irritating but funny, she makes me want to pull out my hair most of the time but makes me smile, she has a soft spot for little kids, but I don't _really_ know anything about her.

The only thing she's ever told me is that her parents died when she was young, her brother raised her, and she knew Jeb. I know that she knows her way around a knife, but any kid who lived on the street should know how to defend him or herself one way or another. But that's it.

But that should be fine right, she wouldn't want to talk about her hard times; it's normal right?

But then _why is her name on a folder that was buried by my father, before I knew she even existed._

Those are the three things that I know.

I'm dirty.

It's really hot out.

And I don't even know my best friend.

I slide backwards to lean against my house in support, still clutching the closed folder in my white fists. Not even opening it yet, the dread has already pooled like a sickness in my stomach.

Holding my breath, I flip the flap open and watch as papers fall out on the the dirt covered ground.

Confusion hits me when I look down at a white sheet. It's littered with letters and numbers in a way that has no pattern, only a few words distinguishable in the number and letter vomit. I have know idea of what it says.

But that's okay, because I know that I'm covered in dirt, and the sun is beating down hotly on me. And I don't know Maximum Ride.

Thumbing through the papers, another name pops out at me.

_Ari Ride_

And below it is seems to be some sort of complicated formula, then more sequins of numbers that I don't know anything about.

I still know that I'm covered in dirt.

With shaky hands, I close the folder and shove it back into the Ziploc bag. Then I once again burry it, only this time knowing what's hidden under the bed of flowers.

As I pat down the dirt, an odd calm settles over me as my mind finally decides it needs to think.

I already knew that Max knew my father, she told me she lived at the office with him when her parents died. But why did he never even mention her to us, what's the big secret?

I walk into the empty house, my footsteps echoing around the walls, but to me it's all too loud. At least my thoughts are too loud; bouncing around the confines of my mind.

It's been months since I first met Max, a chance encounter, both looking for my dad's killer. Ever since then, my body has been telling me that she is dangerous, yet she still became one of my best friends.

And she can't be all that bad if she looks at Angel the way she does. Max is annoying, irritating, and so very frustrating at times, but she is also fiercely protective. I've watched her beat down a bully that was pushing Gazzy around. I've seen her run through an entire amusement, park without slowing down once to even think, all to look for Angel when she got separated from us.

She's defended Iggy when he was blamed for setting the gym on fire, and she even puts up with Nudge's makeovers and shopping trips.

And she's helping me find Killer Ride.

I don't care, I decide. I don't _care_ what she's hiding, I know that she has a bad past and I don't know the full story, but what ever it is, it doesn't change who she is.

She will always be Max to me; nothing will change that.

I don't need to think about Max's past, I just need to focus on finding Killer Ride and killing her. She wont kill another person, even if she _is_ crazy.

I walk into my room ready to fall onto my bed face first, when I stop in the doorway.

Then my lips tug up into a reluctant smile as Max sits cross-legged on my bed looking at me with the softest eyes I had ever seen.

"Hey." She says and smiles as I walk forward again to wrap her in a hug.

"Hey." I mumble, breathing in her sent of cherry Kool-Aid and chocolate. "Where's my mom?" I ask falling onto my back with her still trapped in my arms.

She never lets anyone touch her like this, except maybe Angel. She always shies away from it so it makes me wander why she's letting me do it now. I guess this is under special circumstances.

"Nudge has her." She says finally relaxing her tense muscles and turning into my chest. Then she wrinkles her nose and strains her neck back, though making no other moves to pull away.

"Why are you all dirty?" The incredulousness in her voice makes me chuckle.

"I was laying in the garden."

She leans forward and makes a show of sniffing my shirt. "Well you reek of sweat and dirt."

"Would you like me to go shower?" I ask a little hesitantly, because surly if I get up now she wouldn't let us return to this position.

She pauses as well before tightening her hold on my waist. "No, not right now; just hold me for a bit."

I relax again and breathe in her familiar smell that seems to wrap itself around the room.

After a few minutes, she sits up to look down on me. "Look." She whispers, pressing her palm to my cheek that suddenly feels really warm. "It's not cold."

My own hand comes up to lay over top of hers and I realize that yes, her hand that is usually so cold, has heat spreading into my own skin, not just from my body warming it.

A smile curves my lips, but don't feel the need to say anything. "Thank you." I blurt out anyway.

"For what." She asks, confusion clouding her features.

"For being here; for being my friend."

A weary frown pulls down her lips and she sinks back into my arms. "Yeah..."

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Her arms tighten, almost to the point of pain, and she buries her face in my neck, breathing in my sent. I feel her slight tremors almost as if she's fighting off tears.

"Max?"

"...Nothing." She answers.

I know that she's lying but I don't push. She'll tell me when she's ready.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review and let me know what you think; only a few chapters left.<strong>

**Thanks for reading.**

**-feather flyer**


	15. Chapter 14

**So I just realized that I made Gazzy and Iggy brothers in this so I'm going to change it a bit. Iggy and Gazzy are just best friends and Angel is Gazzy's sister. The Igster and the Gasman are not related.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Have you ever had that déjà vu moment where you think something that's happening right then, happened before? Or even just a thought that you've had that feels like it's already passed through that small brain of yours?<p>

Well for me, I know for a fact that this one particular thought has emerged more than once. Come on, can you guess? I know that you tiny people that are reading this from my mind like a story have seen it before. Come on, you know it. No? Well how about I give you a hint.

The universe. Hates. Me.

A week has passed since Max's and I's little heart felt moment up in my room and I had come to realize that I need to spend more time with my old friends because, sadly I have to admit, I have been neglecting them. I know that 'neglecting' makes them sound like puppies that I don't pay any attention to any more, but I can only wish.

Like right now for instance, I can only wish that Iggy were a cute little Scottish Terrier named Total, but alas, he's not. He would probably pee on my floor anyway just to annoy me.

So any-who, I decide to be a good little friend when I come to realize my neglect, and ask Iggy to hang out. You wanna know how he repays my kind soul?

Well, if you keep reading kind little imaginary people in my head, you'll find out.

"For the last time Iggy, _no_, I do not like Max that way." I huff and kick him in the back of the head a little as he sits on the floor next to my bed.

Not taking his eyes off the TV screen he is intently staring at, he kills my character once again from my easily distracted state. "Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn't be getting so worked up. If it weren't true, you would have just rolled your soulless eyes and killed me mercilessly."

"Well what else am I supposed to do, if I deny it, it's true, if I don't, it's still true? There is no way to win with you!"

"Then what is she to you?" He challenges as he once again sends my character to its death.

"Just a really good friend." I say as firmly as I possibly can.

"-That you like."

"No!" I say, my irritation at my childhood best friend growing every time he opens his mouth. It's a mystery as to how I haven't killed him in real life yet instead of in just a stupid xBox game.

"You dying constantly by my hand says differently."

I sigh pressing the pause button just as I was once again getting pelted with bullets.

"Listen, even if I did like Max, which I don't, she wouldn't even like me that way."

"Oh please, you guys spent practically every minute together for the past few months. Your the only guy in our group that she hasn't pulled a knife on, and that says something."

"And that my friend, is where you're wrong. The first night we met, I stayed at her house because it was closest and we were soaked. I woke her up the next morning and I found myself on my back with a knife pressed to my throat. I'm lucky she didn't slit it right then and snapped out of the nightmare she was having."

"And why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?"

I only answer in a shrug.

"Doesn't matter anyway, that was before you two became besties and left the rest of us in the dirt." He would have made me feel guilty with this sentence if it weren't for the humor in his mocking glare.

"You know that you enjoy her company just as much as I do. Maybe it's _you_ that has the crush." I tease back lightly, hitting the play button on our game and killing him before he even realizes what's happening.

He gives me a real glare this time as he waits for his person to revive.

"Okay, just that thought makes me shudder. She's like a sister to me man, and I'd rather go gay than be anything but that with her."

"Ah, so you _do_ have a crush on Gazzy; I see now. That's why you're hassling me. If you have a crush on your best friend, then that means I have to too."

"Yes, because it's every sixteen year old's dream to stick his tongue down an eleven year old's throat."

"I always knew you were a cradle robber." I say, receiving a laugh from Iggy as I finally put him in his place in the game. This causes my friend to groan in disappointment.

He looks back at me over his shoulder from my spot lounging on my bed. "I think I'll stick to girls that are _within_ two years of my age."

A smile forms on my face as I finally see a way to bring up a topic that has been nagging me for a while now.

"You don't happen to mean, I don't know, say... Nudge?"

He starts choking on air and I easily kill his character. Huh, so it does work. You just have to start talking about your opponent's crush and it's any easy win... Wait... Did I just...? Yup, I sure did just say I had a crush on Max in some round about way...

Well damn.

"I do not like Nudge like that!" He exclaims as soon as he's able to suck air into his lungs. "No way!"

"Mmm." I hum as his character pops back up on the screen only for me to start killing him again. "I'll admit I'm pretty dense, but even I can see it. Hell, _Max_ can probably see it too." I know I most likely just insulted her, but it's not like she will find out unless she has hidden cameras all over the house.

Seeing an opening and probably catching on to the strategy of easy wins, Iggy smile humorously.

"Yes, because you know all about Max. You even have sleepovers together, how cute."

My thumb jerks, slipping on my controller and also effectively allowing Iggy to kill me.

"Bastard." I mutter too low to hear over my friend's laughter.

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><p><strong>So, please let me know what you think, reviews appreciated.<strong>

**How did you like this little filler? Was it good? Do ya want some Fax next chapter? :3 Or maybe some Niggy somewhere in this story? Or another filler _on_ Niggy.**

**-feather flyer**


	16. Chapter 15

**Sorry it was late again, but yay, no school! I don't know about you guys, but I spent this entire first week of summer just lounging around and doing nothing. Ah, I'm so refreshed.**

**Well, I hope you like this chapter, some more action in the next chapter. Maybe Fang finally finds his killer?**

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><p>I hesitate a step when I see her smile at me, my mind flashing back to Iggy's words two days before.<p>

_'Oh please, you guys spent practically every minute together for the past few months.'_

I shake my head to rid myself from those thoughts and allow myself to smile back at Max. Of course we spend time together; she's my best friend. There's no use in over thinking things.

When I get close enough, she jumps onto my back, wrapping her legs around my waist and leaning her face close to my ear.

"So, how about you and I go roll around and work up a sweat after school?" She asks, though I don't think it was supposed to sound sexual.

"What?" I cough as I fall into step with Iggy to the school doors.

"You know, go to the gym and spar."

"Oh, uh, sure."

_Don't over think things, don't over think things. _The phrase sounds like a chant in my head. Why _am I over thinking things?_

Iggy gives me a knowing smirk and I flip him the bird. This of course, only makes his grin broaden.

We pause at the school steps to wait for the others so I dump her onto the rail to sit. She adjusts easily without so much as a wobble as I lean back on the mettle casually.

"So, have you gotten any farther in your search for You-Know-Who?" Iggy asks hopefully.

"Voldemort?" I ask teasingly.

Max gives an obvious gasp and glances around. "You mustn't say his name."

"Vol-de-mort." I draw it out without looking at her and close my eyes at the sharp sting I get in the back of my head. I roll my head back and to the side to see her upside down, humor dancing in her eyes and I give her a lopsided smile.

"Aw, you too are just to cute. I think I need a fan here because the heat is sweltering." Iggy mocks fanning his face with his hand dramatically. Max laughs while I try too push down the warmth rising in my cheeks as I turn a glare to him.

"If you think right now it's hot, think about how we feel when you and Nudge are in a room." Max replies, making me smile victoriously.

"Ha, I told you even she could see it!" I point at my friend, my previous embarrassment forgotten.

Max pulls an insulted face. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" She questions with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

"...Nothing." I mumble averting my eyes and cringing away from her. I find it best that when Max is angry at you, that submitting quickly gives you less pain. To my amusement however, Iggy has not learned that so he often goes home at the end of the day with at least one bruise.

I can feel her smirk and when I'm sure she's not going to give me another unnecessary blow to the back of my head, I straighten up.

Iggy opens his mouth, probably to tattle on me, but is interrupted by mocha colored arms wrapping around and slamming into him from behind.

"Good morning Iggy, good morning Fang, good morning Max!" Nudge says as she moves from behind the poor blushing boy, to hang onto his arm tightly. Our own greetings of morning are unenthusiastic compared to hers as she grins up at us.

I can't help the smile forming at her big doe eyes looking widely up at my friend.

"So, what are you guys talking about?" She asks.

"Iggy said that it's always been his dream to stick his tongue down an eleven year old's throat." I say casually and I get two horrified looks and another smack in the head from Max.

"I was being sarcastic!" Iggy exclaims to which I shrug.

"You still said it didn't you?" The horror on his face doesn't cease, even when Gazzy walks up causing Nudge to burst into laughter.

"The bell's about to ring." Gazzy interjects with an odd look pointed towards our gasping friend.

"Right." I say. "Well, let's go Max." I quickly drag her away and towards our first period class.

I hardly notice our hands linked together until I feel her entwine our fingers, making me quickly glance down and then up to her face. She gives me a soft smile that makes my pulse start to race.

I quickly return it before letting go of her as we walk through the doors to first bell.

We sit silently as the teacher starts to talk about something or another. Halfway through the lesson her leg bumps into mine, drawing my attention to the paper she slides in front of me.

**Want to eat outside for lunch?"**

**Sure.** I reply simply and she frowns.

**Are you okay?**

I give her a small smile and grab her hand as I write a reply.

**Fine.** She nods unconvinced but doesn't try to take her hand away so I continue to hold it.

After a few more minutes, I start to get bored of the monotone voice of the teacher and busy myself with playing with her fingers in fascination. They were so soft and small.

I run my fingers over the pads of her hands, feeling the almost nonexistent callouses.

"What are you doing?" She whispers into my ear, making me shiver from her warm breath. Even her hair smells like cherries.

"Entertaining myself." I whisper back just as the bell rings.

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><p>I look up at Max as she announces herself by the screech of her chair as she sits down at the lunch table.<p>

"I thought we were eating outside today?" She asks.

Nudge hums from across from us. "Iggy and Gazzy are planning something so there is no doubt that we will soon be rushing outside, along with the rest of the school."

"Speak of the devils." I say noticing the grinning faces of the two best friends rushing towards us. "That's our cue."

Together, we stand up as they reach us. "We need to go." Iggy says with a giant grin.

"Now." The Gasman adds.

Add like we have practiced it many times, we fall into line as they lead the way out the emergency exit as the entire school rocks on its foundation. The green gas and screaming starts as soon as we reach the first row of cars in the parking lot.

"So are we all piling in Iggy's car to go somewhere, or what?" I ask.

"That wasn't another stink bomb was it?" Max asks with her hands on her hips. "They said you would be expelled if you set off another stink bomb."

"Ah, but it wasn't." Iggy corrects. "It was a green odorless gas that _looks_ like a stink bomb, but we will be out of school for no longer than just today. I really didn't want to take that Spanish test next period."

"And I," Gazzy declares proudly. "Just wanted to set off a bomb that would get us out of the rest of the school day."

"So are we going to the lake, or what?" Nudge asks. "But first you need to drop me off at my house so I can put on that really cute swimsuit I just bought; I mean, I'm not even kidding. It was _so_ cute and guess how much it cost? Only five dollars; can you _believe_ that? Five dollars!"

"Wait!" Max calls making us a freeze to the spot. "Has anyone seen my shoes?"

"You brought shoes?" I ask glancing down at her bare feet in confusion.

"I _think_ I did, but they're not there anymore." She says with a frown down at her feet.

I can't help but smile my own amusement. "How do you loose shoes that were on your feet?"

"I don't know; they were annoying."

"So you took them off." I say.

"...Maybe, I'm not entirely sure. Is it possible for them to fall off?" She looks so curious that I can't help but laugh.

"Why did you even wear shoes today?"

Her arms cross defensively. "Because I wanted to see what it was like, got a problem with that?"

"No, not at all." I say wrapping an arm around her back to guide towards Iggy's car once more, affection making my whole body warm and light. "We'll check the lost and found box tomorrow."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading guys, see you next chapter. If any of you actually read the author's notes, put the word 'pickle' somewhere in you review. :3<strong>

**-feather flyer**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey, so here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay. Please, please, _please_ let me know what you think.**

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><p>"I thought I'd find you here." A smooth voice rises easily above the loud wind. I turn my head to see Max walking toward me, wind tugging at her cloths, begging to pull her over the edge of the roof.<p>

Like a set in a movie, the sky is a perfect pink pastel colored background for her, the sun directly behind her head and making a golden halo light up her full head of hair. I quickly glance to her hand where she clutches her old baseball cap almost like a lifeline.

I turn back to the endless stretch of dark buildings dotted on the line between earth and sky. The sky, a blank orange and pink canvas, and earth, torn apart by man and built up only for man to tear down and ruin again.

A shift from the corner on my eye tells me that Max had sat down next to me as I dangle my feet over the edge of the abandoned building.

"It's been six months since he left." I tell the rooftops laid out before me as I pick at my nails.

Her voice is almost startling if I hadn't know she was there. "You say it as if he had a choice in leaving you."

"Maybe he did. After all, he had to have done something to get on Killer Ride's hit list."

"I'm sure that wasn't his intention." She says and I just shrug.

She's silent for some time before saying, almost hesitantly, "Maybe you should just give up. It might be best if you don't find out what happened; sometimes the truth hurts more than not knowing... I think this may be one of those times."

I'm already shaking my head before she gets to finish.

"No, I'm going to find Killer Ride, and I'm going to kill her." Even not looking at her, I clearly see her flinch. "No one should get away with murder."

"And here you are talking about killing m-her without even batting an eye. You don't even know how to find her, you haven't gotten a new clue in weeks, and your friends miss you."

I feel her hand touch my shoulder softly and I finally turn to look her in the eye. They're clearer than I've ever seen them, so open and emotional and _guilty_. She must think she's responsible for my unhealthy obsession.

"I think it's time you stopped looking."

"No." I say standing up angrily and watch as she scrambles to her feet as well. "You don't know what it's _like_. You don't know what it's like to have someone you love ripped away from you by someone else, _intentionally_."

He eyes harden then, though they still hold that open unguarded look to them, not like she's afraid of someone actually _seeing_ her.

A fleeting thought passes through my head, that I might be the first person for her to ever get to see the real her, before she's saying her next words that make me recoil.

"I actually _do_ know what it's like. And I still haven't given up on revenge and it sucks, because for the first time ever, I'm regretting going down that road. I have wasted so much time from a life I never got the chance to have, to find this person but I _still_ haven't found what I'm looking for. You have friends, a mother; do _not_ let them get away from you or so god you will regret it. I never got the chance to have what you do."

"I _will_." I insist stepping closer to her as I see tears pool in her eyes. "After I kill Killer Ride."

Her hand blurs as she bends down and there is a flash of silver from her boot.

I blink and then I'm standing not six inches away from Max with her hands shoving a long blade into mine, the tip directed at her heart. She uses her hands that are wrapped tightly around mine and presses it hard into her chest; enough to pierce through her shirt and draw a single drop of blood.

"Then do it!" She shouts in my face as her tears spill down and over her cheeks in rivers. Though her voice wavers, it's filled with venom. "Kill me and get on with you life!"

I try to jerk my hands away when I see how hard she's pressing the knife to her, but she holds on tightly. Fear, for her, wells up in me as I look into her desperate eyes.

"I-I don't understand." I stutter as I just try to stop her from hurting herself even more. Her words don't make sense to me, not in that order. And I see blood starting to seep into her shirt. From the corner of my eye, I see her dropped hat rolling to the edge of the roof from the wind.

Her tears are dripping from her cheeks in a way that I just want her pain to stop but she screams the four words that make my heart pause in its beats to deafen me in loud silence that rings in my ears. It's like a physical punch to my gut and a knees driven in for good measure.

"_I_ AM KILLER RIDE!"

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><p><strong>So there's the big reveal. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.<strong>

**This story is almost over, see you next chapter.**

**-feather flyer**


	18. Chapter 17

**Your guys' reviews made me so happy, even that death threat there. Thanks so much for that; you guys are truly amazing.**

**Hope you like this chapter, though I don't know if the ending is any better.**

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><p>My heart pounds like a war drum, loudly in my ears. It's deafening, an effective distraction from the impossible words Max just screamed at me. But it is possible.<p>

It is so obviously possible. She's been basically telling me that she is Killer Ride the moment we met. What is she even doing here, why did she even show up? Was it just for fun; to _laugh_ at me? This whole time I've been looking for this killer and I find out that she is my best friend? I spent the night at her house; I let her in mine, around my friends!

I become all too aware of the handle in my hand, the blade drawing blood from her chest.

Is this the knife she used to kill all those people? All this time and she was right here.

The anger that starts to build in my chest fizzles out when I meet her red eyes that are still glaring furiously at me, tears still falling in a steady stream.

"What are you waiting for!?" Her shout shoves the war drum to the back of my head and noise rushes to my ears. She's hiccupping and I hear my own struggling gasps for breath. "Do it, this is what you wanted isn't it? Get it over with!"

I clench my eyes shut and tighten my grip on the knife's handle.

I wrench it away from her and fling it, not watching as it disappears over the edge of the building. Max stands grasping at air and staring up at me all wide eyed. It's the most open and innocent I've ever seen her, which is ironic considering I've just found out that she killed my father.

It might have started off as some game to her when she first showed up in my life, but I watched first hand as she changed. I finally understand the guilt I always saw in her eyes; I finally understand why she was so closed off and cold, but she's not that person anymore. I can't kill Max because Killer Ride is already dead.

Even so, I force my face to go blank and my hands to stay at my sides.

"Explain." I demand. Her mouth clicks shut and for the first time, she can't meet my eyes.

Thunder rumbles in the distance making Max's gaze turn to the sky. "Come on, we can talk at my house."

When I don't move, she glances back at me. "Please?" And just like that, my firm stance dissolves and I find myself nodding.

The walk back is tense and silent, though I don't remove my stare from the back of her head. As we walk up to her front door, my mind flashes to the file buried in my back yard and I once again wander what my father did to piss off Killer Ride, A.K.A. Max, so much.

When we get inside, she sits down on the couch and pulls her knees to her chest as if for protection. Something in me aches at the thought of her thinking she'd have to protect herself from _me_.

I wince at the memory of telling her my plans to kill Killer Ride that first time. Looking back now, I'm almost certain that she was about to tell me her identity when I blurted that out.

"My parents died in a car crash when I was two and my brother was four. We were in the car when it happened but only we survived it. But to the world, a family of four died that day. Ari, my brother, and I were taken by scientists to a lab were they put us in cages like dogs. I don't really remember my parents, Ari knows more than me, but my name was Maxine Walker. I renamed myself Maximum Ride when I turned five.

There were other kids at the lab, most of them didn't make it past age two, but there were some. They did experiments on _all_ of us. A dog was treated more humane than us. They injected me with stuff, DNA, experimental formulas, unfound cures. We were nothing but human lab rats to them."

I try to swallow but find it acceptably difficult. "My dad?"

"He was the only nice one to any of us. He didn't jerk us around or hit us when we were being too slow. He was patient. He gave us blankets on cold nights and made sure we were always feed because sometimes they forgot. My favorite stories he told me were the ones about you. I always got so jealous but I just had to hear them. Those stories were like fairytales to me."

"And you escaped when you were twelve." I say recalling the memory from my dad's office, now much more saddening than before. She bobs her head and carefully meets my eyes.

"My brother and I were your dad's favorite and he heard about a surgery they were going to try on me that had a 98% chance of ending in my death. He got us out, both of us. After that, we went on the run and hid when we had to. It wasn't much of a life, but we were _free_."

"If he helped you, then why did you kill him?" I ask in confusion.

"They don't just let experiments run around on the street, we might tell someone. They _wanted us back_."

"What does that have to do with-"

"He was with them when they came for us. It was _his_ formula, _he_ created it, _he_ shot it."

I sigh in confusion. "I don't get it."

"Jeb took my brother away from me. He took the only family I ever knew."

"I thought your brother was just sick." Her glare makes me stop short.

"If your would stop interrupting me, I would explain." I roll my eyes at her snippiness. "Sorry." She sighs.

"Six of them came after us in New York and found us in the subway underground sometime when I was fourteen. Jeb shot him with a dart that I recognized from the lab. It's a serum that knocks the effected person into some sort of limbo. They breathe, they have heartbeats, but they aren't there. They can't hear you, or feel, or speak, or even move. There is only one way to wake them up. I don't know much, but you hear the white coats talk when you're in that place. There is something that they created that brings them back to life.

Only the six of them know of it. When Jeb shot Ari, I kind of lost it and killed one of them and they split up to go into hiding. From then on I was hunting them down, every single one telling me that only your father knows the formula."

"So you just killed all of them."

"They deserved death after what they did to all those kids! What they did to me, us, was so much worse than what I gave them. They're lucky _I_ didn't strap them to a table and force _them_ to stay awake as I preform an eye surgery that I have no idea if it will work, or tie them to a chair to see how long it will take for _various_ injuries in _various_ places to heal on _them_. They're lucky _I_ didn't set them loose into a maze to watch as they try to find a way out with wild animals chasing after them and a floor that _burns_ your feet if you go to slow and make you run till you _literally_ pass out while running."

I stomach rolls in nausea at her words along with the look adorning her face but it quickly smooths out. I can't imagine any of what she just said and I don't think I would want to from her expression. I can't believe my father was a part of any of that.

"I don't regret killing _them_, they were monsters. I _do_ regret loosing myself in those years though."

"What about my dad, do you regret killing _him_?"

"Jeb?" Her shocked face surprises me. Then it smooths out in recognition and a bubbling laugh falls from her pretty lips. "Oh, I probably should have mentioned that first."

"What are you talking about Max?" I ask because she's not making any sense.

She smiles genuinely, yet guiltily at me. "He's not dead."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and please leave more reviews. They truly inspire me and make me so happy.<strong>

**-feather flyer**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey guys, sorry for the delay but here it is. Enjoy, I hope for some feedback.**

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><p>There aren't many ways that a person would react to hearing what Max just told me. Gaping maybe, or even crying. I laugh.<p>

I don't know why, I wouldn't know ten years from now. All I know is that I'm bent over my stomach and gasping for air, laughing so hard that my sides hurt. Again, I don't know why.

Maybe something in the situation just amused me or maybe I was finally going nuts. Maybe they would lock me up in what ever institute they had Max.

When I finally quiet down I lean back against the couch cushion and stare at an adorably confused Max who also has no clue as to the reason for my amusement. She looks at me like _I'm_ the insane one.

"Is he really?" I ask and upon seeing her hesitant nod, break into more chuckles, though not as hard as before. "And why couldn't you tell me this from the beginning?"

She looks sheepish as she ducks her head. "I kind of forgot."

"Ah." I say. "So I've been searching for my dad's killer for _months_ and you conveniently forgot to mention that he is alive upon revealing that my _best_ _friend_ was the one I was searching for this entire time."

"...Oops?"

I huff a laugh. "Wait- what about all the blood they found?"

I watch curiously as she chews her lip. "Well... I kind of actually _did_ stab him and then I realized that I still needed him so..."

"Where is he?"

She seems nervous as she scratches the back of her head. "Yeah, about that- sorry."

"What?" I ask, following when she stands up and watching disbelievingly as she pulls back the rug and carefully peals away a real feeling/looking plastic from the floorboards and opening a panel in the floor.

I turn a halfhearted glare to my killer friend. "So it wasn't a dream."

"Sorry." She repeats as she descends into the dark opening.

After a moment's hesitation in which I debate whether or not she's taking me down there to kill me, I shrug and follow her down.

I shiver slightly to the sudden change of temperature and suppress a cough that itches my throat.

The room is just like the last time I saw it and like last time, my eyes are drawn to the figure laying ghostly pale on a bed. Max strides right over to him and lovingly brushes his hair out of his face.

"This is Ari." She says softly as I make my way over slower than her. "This is my brother."

"How did you take care of him if you were in an asylum for a year? How does no one notice that he's been missing?"

"Because to the world, we don't exist. We're dead so no one looks for us. He was at some hospital under a John Doe. To them he was just some guy in a coma that a fourteen year old brought in, only to disappear before anyone could ask questions. I broke him out after I escaped and brought him here." She says.

I nod but she can't see it. "How did you make it, after you escaped, to where no one remembered you and there was no files on you?"

She shrugs. "The white coats took care of the computer stuff, they don't like it when I exist somewhere. As for the memory, well, that always happens. If I left right now and never come back, you would slowly start to forget me too. First my face, then my hair, next would be my gender, then finally you would forget my name."

That sounds so depressing and it's making my thoughts scrambled with anger and pity so eventually I don't know what to feel towards Max. "How is that possible?"

She looks up at me with that familiar blank expression and I immediately hate it. I grab her hand and she smiles weakly at me. "I guess Maximum Ride doesn't exist and the scientists made it so that she never can. Did you know that I've actually been caught more than once? I have never been held as long as the last one, maybe an hour or two, but no one remembers. Soon they will forget that they even caught me this time and in a few years or so, they with completely forget that there even was a Killer Ride. It will be like I never even existed and when I die, no one will know that I had."

I get a pang in my chest at the conviction in her tone. I can't imagine never knowing Max or even not knowing that I knew her. It's just not possible; Max had become such a big part of my life and I know that I wont forget. Just like the scientists haven't forgotten her, I know I never could.

"Oh right, your father." She says jerking to her feet like she just remembered. "He's over here."

She walks straight to the door I had stopped in front of last time, and heaved it open with a metallic groan.

My eyes quickly revolve around the room, taking in the nicely lit space a dresser with a small TV on top, some books stacked on the floor, some on which I remember Max buying, before my gaze finally lands on the man sitting on a messy bed staring at the TV screen.

Before I speak, all I could think was, Max really takes care of her prisoners. "Dad?" I call.

His head snaps up so fast I'm surprised he didn't get whiplash. "Fang? What are you doing here? Max, what's going on?" He stands up but doesn't move any closer.

From the corner of my eye I see her bite her lip.

"You won." She rasps, voice sounding horse. "I give up, you won."

"Max." He sighs. "What you want to give him wont help; it will change him and he wont even be your brother anymore."

"Liar!" She spits. "All that has come out of your mouth since the day I met you have been lies." I stare at Max wide eyed at the hate in her voice. "Get out! Go home to your family; I don't care anymore! Just get out, GET OUT! You took EVERYTHING from me!"

I reach out hesitantly and touch her shoulder, bracing myself for her to lash out. Instead, she just slumps forward as if she carries a big burden. "Just go home to your family." She sighs at him.

I can't take the ache in my chest anymore so I speak up for the first time since calling his name. "All the stuff that she told me about... how could you do that dad?"

"Fang I can explain." He slumps back down onto his bed.

I nod as I move closer to Max. "Yeah, I'm sure you can. Just not right now."

"What are you-"

"Right now I'm going to try to right some of your wrongs." I say pulling Max out the large mettle door, shutting it without hesitation.

"You're going to help be?" She asks disbelievingly. "But I practically kidnapped your father."

"From what I heard, he kidnapped you first. And it's not like you treated him badly, it's not like you're forcing him to live in a dog cage." I joke but she only manages a weak grimace.

"That's really sweet and all, but where do we even start? I've been searching for years."

I grin down at our locked hands before flicking my eyes back to hers. They are full of hope mixed with hopelessness.

"I have a file." I tell her.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading guys; you all are amazing. Please, please, please leave a review. They bring a smile to my face.<strong>

**-feather flyer :3**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey, guys. *smiles sheepishly* I'm so sorry it took me so long to update and I really have no excuse.**

**Let me think of one, hold on a second. Umm... An alligator ate both my arms so had to get new ones? Ooo, how about the School captured me and I finally escaped! Yay, that's a good one.**

**I hope I still have all my readers and I'm so sorry for making you guys wait so long.**

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><p>Conflicting emotions flash across her face as I watch her read through the number and codes from the file that I had dug up again. We now sit in my kitchen, Max idly munching on some of my mom's cookies.<p>

While the papers made absolutely no sense to me, they seem to make complete sense to her.

She hums every now and then in response to something she reads.

Her breath catches in her through and points to something on a page. "There." She says. "This is the formula, it's right there!"

I look over her shoulder to the random assortment of numbers and letters, remembering noticing them the first time I saw it along with the name 'Ari Ride' standing out painfully obvious on the page.

She jumps up from her chair, wrapping her arms around me while laughing and planting a big, quick, kiss on my lips. It's so fast that I wouldn't have noticed it, or believed it actually happened, if my lips weren't still tingling. But she seems to think little of the gesture as she turns back around and gathers the papers in her hands.

"Some of these chemicals are hard to come by, but I know that I've seen them in the lab before." She says.

"So what does that mean, we make my dad go get them?"

"No." She frowns slightly. "It means that I have to go home."

I immediately start to argue but she cuts me off before I can get very far.

"I have to Fang, Jeb wont do it if his life depended on it and you don't understand any of these." She indicates to the paper and I sigh, knowing she's right.

"Do you even know where the lab is?" I ask.

"Of course." She replies seriously. "I could never forget. But we need weapons. You know your way around a knife?"

"Of course." I scoff and watch as she grins.

"Then let's go." She leads the way back to her house and in the back of my mind, it's kind of annoying that we had just come from there only to have to go back.

...

I can't help but watch her face as it pales the farther we drive. Her grip is tight on the steering wheel, so tight that it groans under her white knuckles. Her face is hard but emotions flicker across her eyes. Worry, excitement, dread, but the main one is fear.

She fears going back, but I think that what she fears most is not ever getting her brother back.

My eyes flick to the duffle bag in the back seat, some weapons falling off and onto the floor. I notice that all of them are some sort of blade.

My stare goes back to Max. Killer Ride. How many times my friends and I joked about meeting her, working with her? And it turns out that I had been friends with her, best friends with her, for almost half a year.

Max has killed people, I thought she killed my father, and here I am riding in a stolen car with her on our way to a secret experimentation lab to steal chemicals that society has never heard of, to save her brother who has been in a coma for years. Like freaking Snow White except with a scientific twist.

Everything sounds so surreal.

I don't think everything has fully sunken in yet, because I'm certain that I should be freaking out right now.

We have been driving in silence for almost a half hour when Max's voice shatters the silence, making me flinch in surprise.

"They wont let us just walk in and leave." She mumbles quietly, but it sounds so much louder after so long without so much as the radio playing. "They'll do everything they can to capture, or kill me and they wont care that you are Jeb's son. They'll try to kill you too."

I search for something to say to that. But nothing comes to mind. I haven't fully decided if this girl is serious, or just psychotic.

Probably both.

"Cool." I end up responding with and she shoots me an amused look. Then it turns solemn again.

"I'm glad you think so, because we're here." She pulls up into a parking lot and stops right in the front in a way that would be easy to just step on the pedal and peal out of the place, but still not look suspicious. "Let's go." She says stepping out of the car and rounding to the back.

"Yay." I whisper before following her lead to the back seat.

She glances around before shoving a long blade into her belt holster, two smaller ones into each of her combat boots, and one up her right sleeve that could slide easily into her palm if she flicks her arm down. She hands me a hunting knife that I hesitantly tuck under my shirt.

Then she grabs the duffle, pulling out a white lab coat and slipping it on, concealing everything that would look like a weapon, and clutches onto a clipboard with my dad's papers. She hands me an empty espresso cup and the bag.

"You're my intern. Just walk slightly behind me, keep up, don't get lost, and don't act like a tourist walking through there." She says and turns on her heel to walk into the direction of a large grey building. On either side is just dessert and sand.

She keeps her head facing straight and walks stiffly through the doors with me scrambling to catch up.

The front room is white with a single fat guy sitting behind a table playing Candy Crush on an IPhone. He only briefly glances up as Max strides through the heavy doors.

She continues walking, through another door into a hall with white tiles, white walls, and a white ceiling.

"Reminds me of the asylum I was in." She murmurs with out breaking stride. I glance at her curiously but she doesn't even glance at me.

Nerves twist in my stomach and the blade seems to burn against my skin. Unease crawls over up my back and I have to fight to not let it show. She finally looks back at me, touching my wrist with her cool fingers, and softly smiles.

"It's okay." She whispers. "I'll keep you safe. And don't look in the windows."

My lip curves up in response. She turns back around and after another ten yards we come to a split in the hall. Max turns right and pushes through a door.

I stiffen seeing the other side; Men and woman in lab coats rushing through the hall, pushing carts or shuffling through papers, with a few normal dressed people following after them with coffee cup in their hands and desperate looks on their faces.

Instead of the plain hall we were just in, doors pop up every few yards on the walls with large glass windows between each.

Despite Max's warning, I turn my head curiously as we come to the first one and everything in me seems to run cold.

Five white coats huddle around a kid that must have only been four. He's strapped to the table screaming while his head is held in place by a metal clamp, and they are doing something to his eyes. One of them quickly exits the room with blood dripping from his blue-gloved hands and leaving a trail on the floor, and for the few second that the door was open, the kid's screams hit my ears, shaking me to the very core.

The next window that we pass is a girl a little older, maybe six, strapped to a chair and what looks like scales patching her arms, legs, and neck. Her eyes are a strange yellow and turned to slits, so full of pain as a person in a white coat chops down on her fingers with a butcher knife. She screams and writhes and past my screaming, racing mind, astonishment chokes me as the nub where her finger was dismembered, slowly grew and reformed.

I don't look into the next windows that we pass, instead, keeping my gaze leveled on Max's face. Her face is smooth, emotionless, but I can see the panic in her eyes, the terror, and helplessness.

I can see her hands trembling as she carefully inspect her clipboard papers. She is trying as hard as she can to not to hyperventilate and just thinking that this is what Max had to go through as a kid, has my heart aching for her and every child subjected to this place. But an even stronger emotion quickly over takes that as I think of the people in the white lab coats doing this to them. Hate.

And I hate my dad for being a part of this.

We finally make it to the end of the corridor and Max ducks through yet another door where an elevator is. She skips right by that and goes to the stairs.

We go down first one flight, then two, and then three, before she finally stops and hesitates.

"They keep the kids down here." She whispers. "This is were we wait for them to come get us and start experimenting on us. The chemicals are down here too along with the cremation room. They can't exactly have deformed bodies popping up."

I can't help but pull her into a backwards hug and hold her as she shakes from the memories of her life here.

"We'll help them." I murmur into her hair. "After we help you're brother, well get them out of here and destroy the School."

She nods and pulls away, finally leaving the stairs shaft. The halls down here are different. They are dark with a single bulb flickering high above creating an ominous atmosphere. There are three doors down here in all, the one at the end being a swinging double.

"I..." She hesitates. "I need to see them." She whispers and stops at the first door. Her hands tremble as they go to turn the handle and it opens with a soft click, and the light above flicks on, revealing such a sight that my stomach churns and bile rises in my throat.

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><p><strong>I really hope you liked it. There are only about two more chapters after this so our journey is almost over.<strong>

**Thank you so much for reading, and please, please, please leave a review.**

**Thanks guys.**

**-feather flyer :3**


	21. Chapter 20

**Ha ha, up so soon! I hope you enjoy this; I know I enjoyed writing it. And I really hope you guys don't get too upset over it. :3**

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><p>There must have been at least two dozen dog crates stacked against the walls, beside and on top of each other. Only about five were empty. The rest had limp and whimpering forms cowering in the shadows from the sudden harsh light.<p>

It was a truly gruesome sight, kids ranging from days old- to ten years, but only a few are above the age of three.

Inside the first crate is a baby, maybe four months, and its skin looked like it had black sours spotting its body like freckles, some have a strangle yellowy liquid dripping down to the normal skin. The baby was still, no rise and fall of the chest, and pale in death.

They hadn't even bothered to move the body.

A little girl in the back is crying and reaching through the bars of her cage to another who has an older boy limp on the ground, unconscious or dead, I couldn't tell.

I see scales, fur, organs on the outside of the body, slit eyes, bleeding from unhealed cuts, and children spotted with rash in reaction to something, all laying in their own filth with empty, forgotten trays of food.

All of them had pulled back to the very ends of their cage as soon as the lights flicked on.

It was all horrific and I wanted to throw up or cry. Max, I noticed, was crying with silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She looks around the room with such haunted and helpless eyes that make me want to race out of there that much faster.

But Max takes another step into the room that smells of rot and soiled cloths and crouches down to the first cage with an older kid.

"Hello." She says softly to the raven-haired ten-year-old, one of the eldest in the room. Her nose is smushed slightly, like a cat's, and her ears turn to points and are covered in fur. Something twitches in the shadow of the cage, like a tail, as she looks on in fear and curiosity.

"You don't look like them." the girl whispers.

"So you can talk." Max smiles sadly. "And no, I'm not like them. I was like you a few years ago, but I escaped."

The young girl crawls closer to the edge of the bars. "Why would you come back; why would anyone ever want to come back."

I don't step closer; I never was good with kids and I have a feeling that I would end up scaring her.

Max pokes her fingers through to touch the child's hand. "They have something that I need here. My name is Max; do you have a name?"

"They call me 25683. But the others here call me Carter. Have you seen my brother?" She glances to the empty cage above her. "He's only four and they took him hours ago. He's usually back by now."

My mind flashes to the kid strapped to the table and inwardly shutter.

"I'm sorry." Max whispers. "I don't know." A loud banging noise comes from outside the door and Max stiffens. "I have to go now Carter, but I'll be back. I promise. And the next time you'll see me, I'm getting all of you out of here and I'm burning this place to the ground."

Carter smiles, teeth sharp like a feline's. "Okay." She says and then flinches to the back of her cage as the door slams open and a white coat steps into the room with a gun aimed at my best friend's head.

Max stands and turns slowly, grinning when she sees the barrel of the gun and an odd emotion crosses her face.

Anticipation.

"Hey, Doc!" She says casually, crossing her arms and leaning on one foot. "What's up?" She asks. "Steeling more babies to torture?"

The scientist's hand wavers. "Who are you?" He asks and Max smiles lazily.

"My name is Maximum Ride, or to you lovely people here called me, 666."

His eyes widen, and he actually drops the gun in shock. I blink and Max is strolling across the tile, picking up the fallen weapon and twirling it around carelessly. I almost feel like yelling at her to watch where she's pointing the thing, but figure she knows what she's doing.

Then again, she did just stroll into a top secret facility and seems to enjoy being caught. All former evidence of her weakness is gone, wiped from her face as if it never even happened and the fleeting thought that maybe she has a bipolar disorder flashes through my mind. It would explain all her mood swings. Either that or she's pregnant, which I highly doubt.

"Ah, so you know me." Humor gleams in her eyes. "You know, you do look vaguely familiar. Let's see; where do I know you from? Hmm..." She taps the barrel to her chin in thought but I stay quiet, hoping she's not stupid enough to bump the trigger.

In the cage behind me there is a sharp inhale of breath.

"Ah, you were the bloke in DNA reengineering." She claps her hands together at remembering. She struts back over to my side as Carter's face appears back at the front of the cage, looking excitedly up at Max.

"You're her!" She says excitedly. "You're _the_ Maximum Ride, 666, the white coats called you the Devil! I grew up being told stories about you by the others before they never came back, about how no matter how much they did to you you always came back and you always fought. But I never remembered you myself. They said that you gave me my name."

Max winked at her, her smile turning soft. "You were such a tiny thing, I guess you where one of the lucky ones." She looks sadly around at all the cages. "Not many of you are left though, my family."

I feel a throb in my heart, feeling that I am imposing in this moment, but it is soon lost as the stupid scientist opens his stupid mouth.

"The Handler is already on his way."

"Ah, the Handler!" Max exclaims twirling back around to face him. "The Handler, the Punisher, yes I had many visits from him. We go way back. Tell me, is it still Omega, or did you replace him in my absence?"

Carter looks on with excited eyes as Max raises the gun to aim at his head. Is she going to shoot him?

The man ignores her question and scowls, fear hidden deep in his pea soup eyes. "I bet you don't even know how to use a gun."

Oh, so she had absolutely know idea what she was doing. Great, just great. A gun in the hands of my crazy best friend, hell bent on revenge but with no idea how to work the weapon. This is just perfect.

Max glances down a the firearm curiously, probably trying to figure out how it works, before shrugging and hurling it at his head like it was a knife.

The tall man crumples to the ground unconscious.

Oh. Well that works I guess.

"Come on." She says grasping my arm and dragging me toward the door, scribbling furiously on her clipboard as we race past the unresponsive body and out the heavy door.

I jerk to a stop at seeing a boy there. He's an older boy, almost a man, with strong set muscles and a perfectly proportioned body.

His hair is blond in a surfer dude kind of way but his eyes are empty and emotionless. Almost like he's not entirely there.

Max glances up when I plant my feet and she takes in the obstacle with guarded eyes.

Still, even then, amusement dances in her eyes. She really is enjoying this.

"Hold on a second." She says holing up a finger before going back to scratching at the paper with a pen. "Let me just finish this real quick."

The boy blinks and rolls his eyes, actually waiting. Hmm, he must have met Max before.

After another minute of silence save for the writing being done, Max shoves the clipboard and pen into the bag that way still slung over my shoulder. She zips it quickly before turning, smile back in place.

"Long time no see Omega, how's life treating you?"

The boy blinks before returning the smile. "Very well, you?"

Wait, are they really having small talk? Is this whole place loony? And Omega; that was Max called the Handler person.

"Can we move this along please?" I can't help but blurt out irritated. Max glances at me questioningly. "I'm sorry, it just feels like a family reunion and I'm the friend that was forced to tag along to keep it from being awkward. Well guess what; it's still awkward?"

Max cracks a smile.

"I suppose we should speed this up." She muses, glancing at the stair and elevator shaft.

Omega sighs. "Well fine, if you want to make this boring."

"I know right?" Max grins. "He's always like this; he didn't even want to play hide and seek with me."

"Unbelievable." he deadpans.

I mentally start banging my head against the wall. I was wrong before; both of them aren't all the way there.

A scowl quickly forms on Max's face as he quickly pulls a gun to aim at her head.

"Again?" She scoffs. "Haven't you people ever heard of a good old fashioned fist fight?"

The gun shifts to now point at my head. Max suddenly seems so much more sober, and entirely different light entering her eyes. I don't feel scared at that moment, probably still just trying to keep up the happening right in front of me.

"I'll give you a choice Max, because I used to have fun with our... games." He says, face void of any feeling he had earlier. "You can pick. You can walk out right now with you're friend now, or I can shoot him and let you walk into that chemical storage room and pick out any of the ingredients that you need for that brother of yours."

Max smirks, a cruel look entering her eyes and like the flip of a switch, she's the girl I first met in the rain. Dangerous.

I blink again, and suddenly she's standing slightly beside me, knife that was once hidden up her sleeve pressed to my throat. This was not my Max. This was not who she was, confessing everything to me hours before.

"Well, since you offered..." She says. Was it all a trick? Her caring, her confession? Did she know that this would happen this was. Walk in and walk out if someone thought she cared for me.

Confessing her betrayal to me to get me to trust her. Telling me her story to get me to feel bad for her?

No, those emotions I saw in her eyes, those were real; you cant fake that. I'll just have to trust her.

But there is a pressure in my neck and the sound of tearing fabric as she moves to plunge her blade into my heart. There is the sound of tearing flesh and warms stickiness seeps through my shirt, soaking it quickly.

My vision blurs. The ground is suddenly not under my feet as my legs give out and I land face down in the ground, blood spreading over white floor.

As my vision fades I see Omega smirk before turning around and entering the elevator as Max shuffles around in her duffle bag, jogging away and leaving me there as my vision goes dark.

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><p><strong>Okay so, let me know what you think! One chapter left, maybe, so you gotta leave a review.<strong>

**They are 'my muse, my inspiration!'**

**-feather flyer**


	22. Chapter 21

**I almost didn't post today; I had to rush the chapter because I kept putting it off. Thanks for all the reviews guys; you have no idea how happy they make me seeing someone respond to my chapters.**

**You guys are great.**

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><p><span>3rd Person POV<span>

Max felt numb as she strode away from Fang, lying there limp on the ground. She knew as soon as the doc said that Omega was on his way that they both wouldn't walk out of there together.

She knew Omega, how he thought and his games. She knew he would try to make a deal with her, and she knew she had to take it.

She has known Omega ever since she could remember, ever since she could cause problems for her captors and ever since her first punishment. She had tried to fight him a couple times, even when they weren't for tests; she's tried to escape a couple times but every instance, it ended up with _her_ on the floor too weak to get up. It always ended up with _her_ blood staining the white tile red, though sometimes she did get in a few good hits.

Omega was the scientists' most successful experiment, strong, almost unstoppable, and most importantly, on their side. And for as long as Max can remember, he was a boy of eighteen. He doesn't grow old or age.

Max grimaces at a spike of pain in her wrist. It has a constant throbbing feel to it. Her body is weak, having grown soft and used to years of no torture done, so this is about as painful as it would be for a regular person.

She cups it in her palm, catching the crimson liquid before it could hit the ground, and slips into the closest door.

There is a single doctor in the room and quickly slashes his throat as he opens his mouth in surprise. The girl quickly rummages around the room, finding crisp white bandages in a cabinet.

Her lab coat comes off, the sleeve stained in rivets of red, and then rolls up her long sleeved shirt to reveal the gash in her arm.

She quickly makes work of wrapping her wrist, grimacing at the smell of antiseptics and bleach. With the wound she had sustained, it was gushing blood profusely and she knows that she would bleed out in minutes if not stopped.

She doesn't have time to treat it right though; she has only about five minutes until the whole building is made aware of her intruding, which would result in a lockdown that even she wouldn't be able to escape from.

She has to work fast, so she can't be concerned about her injury or Fang who is laying at the lowest level of the building in a pool of blood, probably having thought that she had betrayed him with his last thought before blacking out.

No, she can't think about him right now; she has things that she has to do, and she has to do them quickly. No one can know what she's doing or everything will go to hell.

She has to hurry, only four more minutes...

She quickly strips the dead doctor of his white coat, shrugging it on without an ounce of remorse; hers was ruined.

She didn't feel bad for killing the doctor, she's killed before and to her, she was just putting down a rabid dog. It was necessary.

They would all die soon, she would make sure of it. She knows the good, the ones who have mercy. She knows the spies and the ones who do everything they can to help the caged children.

They get to live; they get to go home to their families. The others... well by the month's end, no kid will ever be experimented on like a rat again.

She slips out of the room, an invisible stopwatch in her mind, counting down her minutes before she is made known to the other white coats strolling right past her without a care in their sick twisted minds.

But then again, hers was a little twisted too. After all, they raised her.

...

Fang's POV

My eyes flicker open as if in a dream. There is something wet and sticky under my face and upon focusing my eyes, see red.

I push myself up, weary of any pain but there is nothing. There is a hole in my shirt, but my skin is not pierced. My shirt is sticky with blood, but I can see now that the blood does not belong to me, there is no puncture wound in my chest, and I feel no pain other than a slight headache from this complex situation.

I shuffle over to the black duffle bag that was still beside me and, remembering Max writing something on the papers, fumble with the zipper.

The white sheets are the only things in it and Max's handwriting is in an obvious blue scrawl. Names of ingredients are listed, translated from the numbers and letter soup.

I nod to myself, understanding what Max was wanting me to do, and scramble to my feet. My shoes slide in the slick substance on the floor, and I can only hope that the blood is fake.

I go to the second door in the hall, shoving through and looking at all the stacks of shelves of different colored liquids. The room is large, tables full of test tubes and beakers and a bunch of other science-y stuff. There is a distinct smell of antiseptic.

I look back down at the list. Written at the bottom in all caps in the word "HURRY" and I quickly start fumbling with the glass containers, grabbing the ones that are named and carefully stacking them in the bag.

The clock on the wall ticks slowly, yet the minutes seem to fly by and the more time that passes, the more I'm set on edge. There is total silence in the room aside from the noise I cause and the twitch of the clock.

Running feet cause my head to lift and I freeze when the door flies open.

Max looks around wildly until her eyes land on me. They still have that blank, cold, look in them that make me shudder. I swallow as she steps into the cold room.

"Did you get the supplies?" She asks appearing at my side. I involuntarily take a step away and she goes ridged. She slowly turns her head to me and I can see hurt in her eyes. "I'm..." She swallows. "I'm sorry that I had to do that; he was going to kill you."

"You... you stabbed me?" It came out as more of a question. After all, I don't seem hurt. But I was so sure... The whole situation was confusing and I haven't yet taken the time to think it through step from step.

"It did look like that didn't it?" She sighs. Her hand shoves up her white sleeve and presents her arm to me, covered in soiled bandages that are soaked through with blood. "I had to make it look like I killed you or we would never make it out of here, not with Omega in our way. I never could beat him in a fight."

I run my finger over her wrist and watch as she winces.

"So you didn't betray me?"

She looks at me sharply. "Of course not Fang, I would never do that. You're my best friend and I don't feel like losing any other people that I care about. Now did you get the supplies or not? We have to go, like, _now_."

Right on cue, an alarm blares loudly making me want to cover my ears and curl into a ball. A red light starts flashing in the room.

"I couldn't find this one!" I shout to her, pointing to the bottom word, a word I have never heard of before.

She goes straight to the far wall and pulls open the refrigerator. Just inside the door are about a dozen tiny vials filled with an orange liquid. She puts a cork on it and gently sets it in the bag before handing it to me.

"Let's go!" She shouts loud enough for me to hear. We turn to the door right as it swings open. The scientist we were first caught by stands there, a red and blue lump in the middle of his forehead, and he squints at us as if having problems seeing.

Max immediately grabs a graduated cylinder and throws the liquid into his face. The man screams and falls to the ground clutching his face.

The poor dude.

Max grabs my hand and steps over the fallen white coat and starts running down the red flashing hallway. She slams through the door to the stair shaft and we make a mad dash up the steps. Through each door we pass, shouts are barely heard, but up and up we go. It seems like even more steps than when we were going down and by the time we get to the top floor, I'm a panting sweating mess and the duffle bag on my back feels fifty pounds heavier.

Stupid Max, why can't she hold it?

I find out why a second later when she throws the door open and a white coat comes barreling towards us. I quickly notice that she's not killing the scientists, just hitting them with the butt of her knife to knock them out.

This is purely for escape, not yet revenge.

The security guard at the front is no longer in the chair, looking for the intruder I suppose, and Max barrels through the doors.

The alarms go silent as the doors close behind us and Max shoves me toward the doors of the car we came in. Looking back, the building just seems like any ordinary place. But I had seen behind the windows and locked doors and I know that whatever Max plans to do to the place, I'll help.

Gunshots ring out, pinging off the back of the car as Max slams on the gas peddle, carrying us further and further away.

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><p><strong>Okay so I lied. There will be one more chapter after this.<strong>

**You guys didn't really think that I would kill Fang did you? Remember there was a pressure in his neck; she pressed a pressure point that knocked him out and cut her arm to make it look like he bled.**

**So thanks for reading guys, the last chapter will be up soon.**

**-feather flyer**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hey, sorry this took so long to get up but at least you don't have to wait for my updates anymore. This is the last chapter so I really hope you like it. It was strangely hard to write.**

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><p>Max's fingers ghost across the pale cheek, skin cold to the touch. The figure is still, unmoving from his dreamless prison and oblivious to the passing years. She traces down his jaw, past his throat to rest over his heart.<p>

A slow sluggish thrumming is the only thing to reassure her that the boy is still alive.

For so long she has been searching for something to wake him up, and the fact that she found it, just feels unreal to her. Not to mention that she has a friend. A real, normal, friend.

So his dad is the evil scientist that caused her only family to go into a death like sleep, and held her prisoner her entire childhood, but who cares! He is real, and genuine, and _cares_.

It's more than she has ever had. And the way he makes her feel is just... strange. The way her chest tightens when he walks into the room, or the way her stomach squirms like she's going to throw up, but not really like that, when he smiles at her.

All of her feelings since she met him have all been screwed up. Her reactions to little things don't make since. But in time, she knows that she can figure it out. And if it becomes to much trouble, she can always ask Fang about it.

But that's not the important thing right now. What's important has a heart beating so softly under her fingertips, that it's almost like it's just a ghost of what was once there.

She has to save him. Her brother. Her protector. Her only family. She has to save him like so many times he had saved her.

Max stands abruptly, the chair she was sitting in screeching against the concrete ground. "Is it ready?" She asks turning to the dark boy fiddling with bottles and beakers nervously. The glass resting on a foldable table clings as he jerks in surprise at her sudden voice.

"Yeah." He says.

She strides over to him, a relieved yet grim smile pulling at her lips. This is it. The only way to wake him up.

A grimace distorts her face as Fang lifts up a syringe to suck up some of the strange colored liquid. She absolutely hates needles; even the sight of them, and this one that will wake up her brother is no different.

She takes it delicately from her friend's offered hand and balances it uneasily on her fingers. Jeb had said that it would change him. Into what? Into who? Will he still be Ari when he wakes up?

He has to be. This is the only way that will bring him out of his sleeping prison without directly killing him.

Max purses her lips into a thin, white line and turns to her pale brother. _It's the only way_, she tells herself and plunges the needle into his heart, pressing down softly on the plunger.

Long seconds stretch into minutes, and with each unchanging moment, her throat tightens unbearably.

Then his fingers twitch and her body seems to coil. She reaches out, her hand trembling, and rests it over his heart.

It's beating quickly, fluttering like a bird's wings, and her eyes sting like small fires have been lit behind them. It's too fast.

Max can't help but jerk her hand away as his eyes flash open and he sits up fast. She stumbles a few steps back, bumping into Fang who had come closer to watch.

"Ari?" She calls hesitantly, her voice no more than a croak.

Her brother's blue eyes lock onto her, recognition flashing in the depths. Then horror replaces that.

"What have you done?" He gasps, voice ringing clear and easily, as if he weren't in a sleeping state for years. "Max... You can't save me."

He swings his legs over the side of the bed and shakily lands on his feet. He shouldn't be able to stand- he should barely be able to sit up.

"Ari!" Max smiles, tears rolling down her cheeks in hot torrents. She moves to step forward but Fang grips her arm, staring at the older blond boy with uncertainty. Something seemed off.

Max looks confusedly up at her friend to see him watching her brother with an expression that makes her pause.

Something in him seems to change- a light in his eye, maybe a twitch in his muscles. He folds in on himself, his body convulsing and skin rippling like a snake just beneath the pale coat.

"Max..." His voices strains. "You have to kill me. Hurry!"

Max stumbles backwards, plowing right into Fang but she doesn't even acknowledge him. "I-I don't..."

Fang's uneasiness grows as he watches his best friend's older brother, and his fingers find the hilt of a knife that was thrown carelessly onto the table. His father's warnings whisper into his ear and his knuckles turn white with the grip that he holds.

Something is very wrong. "Max." He says, waiting for her direction on what to do. This is not the happy, tear jerking family reunion that he was expecting to happen.

Ari turns his icy blue eyes on Fang and he has to repress a shiver. The pupils dilate and expand noticeably in the azure pools, pleading with him to carry out his wishes. They close, clenching in pain and the muscles in his back shift, grow, creating sickening sounds that make Fang's stomach roll.

The blond boy's whole body shakes in exertion as his hands slap the floor. Each finger pops as it elongates, rippling and pulling the skin taut. Hair splits from his skin, growing dark and long, and thick.

Ari's eyes flash open, a darker blue than before and all together different. Hate shines in them and a rumbling growl ruptures the stale air.

"Max." Fang says again, pulling her backwards even more to create space between them and that... that _thing_. Wolf-like, but also human- yet nothing like a man.

Taking a chance, Fang moves his eyes from the beast and turns his stare to the girl who has yet to say anything.

Her eyes are clenched tightly closed, but a few tears still squeeze themselves from her lids. She looks deathly pale, like her brother was minutes before, but her hands tremble loosely at her sides- like she's already given up.

The thing that was once Ari lunges, barely giving Fang enough time to pull Max to the ground.

The table holding the left over vials and bottles crash to the ground with an ear shattering sound. Fang moves as fast as he can and jumps onto Ari's back, making him stagger with the added weight. For a boy who had been un-mobile for years, he was incredibly strong and easily throws the dark boy.

He hits the ground with a groan. The noise seems to spark something in Max and she opens her eyes, takes in the destruction, and her shoulders go slack.

She goes unnoticed by both boys as Ari turns on Fang. His long nailed fingers curl into a fist and smashes down on the fallen boy's face, making pain bloom across his cheek. Fang quickly rolls out of the way as a foot is sent towards his stomach. He moves to tackle his legs but the wolfish boy is much stronger than any human he has ever faced.

Ari merely grabs him from the back of the shirt and throws him against a wall. He stands tall as the towers over his sister's best friend and a gruesome smile twists his face.

Then it falters, drops, and he looks down at his chest where a dark color spreads from the very tip of an overly long knife.

He falls sideways to the ground, dead, as a puddle quickly forms under him.

Fang's wide eyes frantically look up to see Max standing there, face blank and oddly numb looking. She holds out her hand, offering it to Fang to help him up. He does so wearily.

Inside, Max feels empty. Numb, not there, not right. She couldn't save her brother- she killed him.

But he wasn't him and he was going to kill Fang. She couldn't let him do that. Her brother is gone, as dead as he was thirty minutes before, and it's like nothing has changed. But everything has because his heart is no longer beating.

Fang silently watches her, unsure of what to do or if he's supposed to say something.

Finally Max moves her gaze from her brother's unrecognizable body to the mettle door at the end of the room. A hardness seems to settle in her chocolate eyes and she blinks.

"I think it's time we fill in the flock. They need to know what happened and we can use them."

Her hand reaches out, searching for Fang's and he entwines his fingers with hers.

"What are we doing now?" He asks, hesitant but ready to do whatever Max needs him to do.

"Now, we are going to blow up the school."

* * *

><p><strong>Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. <span>My Strength<span> will be updated next but don't expect consistent updates. I really will try though whenever I start the next chapter.**

**Thanks for everything.**

**-feather flyer**


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